Polsa, Italy – Italian Vincenzo Nibali took a giant step towards his maiden Giro d'Italia triumph by smashing his rivals on his way to winning the 18th stage time trial from Mori to Polsa on Thursday.
Australian Cadel Evans began the day only 1min 26sec behind the Italian with two key mountain stages to go but finished nearly three minutes behind.
Ahead of the two mountain stages in the Dolomites, which may have to be altered due to wintry weather conditions, Nibali leads Evans by 4:02.
Colombian Rigoberto Uran is in third place overall only a handful of seconds adrift of Evans.
The race finishes on Sunday with a mainly flat 197 km stage from Riese Pio X to Brescia. – Sapa-AFP