Di Luca wins longest Giro stage

PINEROLO, Italy (AP) -- Danilo Di Luca won the longest stage of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday with a late solo breakaway and added to his overall lead.

The 2007 winner attacked on a short climb 1.86 miles from the finish of the 10th leg. He clocked 6 hours, 30 minutes, 43 seconds over the 163-mile route from Cuneo to Pinerolo, passing through the Sestriere ski resort.

Lance Armstrong finished 13th, 29 seconds back.

Franco Pellizotti was second, 10 seconds behind, and Denis Menchov was third with the same time.

Di Luca now holds a 1:20 advantage over Menchov in the overall standings. He began the day with a 13-second lead over Thomas Lovkvist, but the Swede couldn't keep up on the last climb and dropped 1:39.

In addition to time gained, Di Luca also earned a 20-second time bonus for his victory.

Defending Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre finished fourth, 10 seconds back, while other overall contenders Ivan Basso and Levi Leipheimer crossed 29 seconds after Di Luca.

Armstrong won his first mountain stage in the Tour de France in Sestriere in 1999, setting up the first of his seven consecutive Tour victories. The American stayed with the lead group through Sestriere but dropped behind on the final climb, then clawed back to limit his damages.

The stage included a 6.3-mile climb to Moncenisio followed by the even tougher 7-mile ascent to Sestriere -- the Cima Coppi, or Coppi peak, dedicated to Fausto Coppi, the legendary Italian rider of the 1940s and 50s.

Each year the Cima Coppi marks the highest point of the race. Sestriere is 6,677 feet above sea level.

A long and technical descent from Sestriere preceded a short climb to Pra Martino 6.5 miles before the finish, followed by a much shorter uphill stretch where Di Luca made his decisive attack.

The stage traversed the area where Alpine events for the 2006 Turin Olympics were held.

The leg was originally slated to follow the route that Coppi covered in a 119-mile solo breakaway in the 1949 Giro, but organizers changed the route last month due to snowy roads and problems with radio reception in mountains just over the French border.

Di Luca's victory celebration was muted out of respect for a motorcycle rider who died in a crash heading toward the start of the stage. Fabio Saccani, 69, was riding in his 32nd Giro. He also worked the Tour de France 11 times for cycling photographer Roberto Bettini.

The death came three days after Spanish rider Pedro Horillo Munoz ended up in a coma for 24 hours and had severe injuries after falling 60 yards off the side of the road on a downhill stretch.

A moment of silence will be observed for Saccani before the start of stage 11 on Wednesday.

The race ends May 31 in Rome.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.