Uran wins 12th stage of Giro d'Italia

BAROLO, Italy (AP) — Rigoberto Uran won the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia and took the overall lead on Thursday.

The Colombian was 57 seconds behind Cadel Evans going into the stage, then won the 42-kilometer (26-mile) individual time trial from Barbaresco to Barolo in under an hour, and Evans finished 1 minute, 34 seconds behind in third.

"It's incredible, I'm really surprised. I didn't think that I would win it. I cannot believe I won the stage and took the pink jersey," Uran said. "I worked a lot on my time trial, spending time in the wind tunnel over the winter, but today surpassed my expectations.

"It's too early to say the race is over. We still have not raced the hardest mountains yet. The most difficult part of the Giro is still to come."

Uran took the pink jersey off Evans to lead the Australian by 37 seconds.

"I saw Uran coming into form," Evans said, "but I honestly did not expect him to have such an amazing time trial. Of course, I had hoped to have done better myself. The time trial course suited me well, but as I said yesterday, the verdict is on the road.

"My position is good tactically. It is going to be interesting."

Diego Ulissi led for most of the day and looked on course for a third stage victory in the race but had to settle for second after Uran beat the Italian cyclist's time by 1:17.

Overall, Rafal Majka was third, 1:52 behind Uran.

Thomas de Gendt was one of the early leaders and was in front for a long time as he was one of the last cyclists to complete the stage on dry roads.

Later cyclists struggled in the rain, and there was even thunder and lightning at the finish.

There was a scare when Tobias Ludvigsson misjudged a corner on the technical descent and went flying over a barrier, landing hard after a short drop. He lay prone for several minutes but was later seen sitting up before being taken to hospital.

The weather abated and the roads were beginning to dry out again when Ulissi came flying out of the starting gates.

He crossed the line 50 seconds ahead of De Gendt, who eventually finished eighth.

Friday's 13th stage is a mainly flat, 158-kilometer (98-mile) leg from Fossano to Rivarolo Canavese.

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