90th Giro d'Italia - Stage 12 after Stage Interviews
Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas), Damiano Cunego (Lampre Fondital), Andy Schleck (Team CSC), Paolo Savoldelli (Astana).... more to come

Danilo Di Luca podium stage 4, captures another impressive stage victory and another day in pink after the finish in Briancon. Photo c. Fotoreporter Sirotti

Danilo Di Luca sounded satisfied (how could it be otherwise?) in his first after-race statements "I'm happy. "I think I handled myself well during the stage. When I attacked late on the Izoard it wasn't because I wanted to win the KOM prime there, but as I wanted to start the descent in first place, so that I wouldn't run any risks on a descent I didn't know well. I didn't take risks there, then the others rejoined me again (and we went to the line together). I know that I'll be struggling in the final week, so I want to make as many gains as possible now".

CSC' Andy Schleck on the attack on stage 10. Another impressive performance on today's stage 12 against the favorites on Izoard. Photo c. Team CSC & Tim De Waele

After-race words from Andy  Schleck: "I was aiming for the victory today. My legs were fine, so I followed the likes of Simoni and Di Luca. But to beat them was no easy task, and I suffered in the last, cobbled kilometre, when they showed all of their class. Sure that, if I my legs are as good as today, I'll give it a go in the next hilly stages too, even trying to  attack earlier perhaps". But Schleck is not a bad time trialist either, and Di Luca seems well aware of it, such that the current GC leader considers him a very dangerous overall challenger.

Damiano stage 10 finish. Photo c. Lampre/Fondital

Damiano Cunego said as follows: "Danilo (Di Luca) is going very fast in this period. He's in great form, and showed it again today. Simoni and him are currently the strongest guys, you just gotta admire their strength and will, but we just hit the first tough mountains, there's a long way to go. I still lack something, I lost 19 seconds to Simoni and Di Luca; I know that, had I finished with the best ones, I would be more satisfied; but I managed to stay with them most of the time, and I hope that I'll get better in the next days".

Paolo Savoldelli admitted that he had a horrible day in the saddle: "Since early into the stage I realized that I was not okay today, and when we hit the Agnello climb and they forced the pace, I just couldn't push at all; it was like my bike was tied to a cable that slowed me down.

So I told Mazzoleni to go ahead on his own and race his own race today. He had good legs, and to force him to stay with me would have been a waste. I didn't even gain anything in the descents today. When things go wrong, they just do it everywhere, you know. It was a little better on the second climb, but I couldn't ask for more... after accidents like yesterday's, you need two to three days in order to recover. I even thought about not taking the start line today first, and if it wasn't for my team manager Fidanza, I would have dropped out of the race later".

Stage 12 Live part 1
Stage 12 Live part 2