Bold attack banks Sastre Giro stage victory

CARLOS Sastre unleashed a bold and devastating late attack to claim the 15th stage of the Giro d'Italia in Monte Petrano.

The Spaniard waited patiently before launching his decisive charge, leaving race leader Denis Menchov and his nearest rival, Italy's Danilo di Luca, trailing as fierce heat made the uphill going even more demanding.

Yaroslav Popovych and Damiano Cunego both made solo breaks that were caught as the race closed in on its summit finish.

Russian Menchov maintained his control of the maglia rosa, finishing 25 seconds behind Sastre with di Luca one second further back.

But the big story was Levi Leipheimer's horror stage.

Well positioned in third on the general classification before the stage, the American lost nearly three minutes and dropped three overall places.

Sastre's performance moves him onto the podium - but he's still over two minutes back from Menchov.

Tuesday is a rest day - which will be needed as Wednesday sees the peleton tackle the feared climb from Chieti to Blockhaus.

Although a short 76km stage, the last 27 kilometres kick up vertically at a vicious gradient and the final two kilometres are the toughest of the lot.

It's a stage to make and break reputations and the destination of the maglia rosa in Rome this weekend could be decided here.