Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) saw his hopes of defending the Giro d’Italia title all but evaporate on stage nine after being distanced on the final climb.
The Canadian, whose team-mates had earlier combined with Astana and BMC Racing to put Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) in difficulty, dropped back on the category four ascent of the Fiesole and crossed the line more than two minutes behind the maglia rosa group.
Wiggins was in that group having been paced back to the peloton by his Sky team-mates after falling back on the slippery descent of the day’s category one climb.
The Tour de France champion remains fourth overall going into the first rest day, one minute and 16 seconds behind Vincenzo Nibali (Astana).
The Giro d’Italia continues on Tuesday with the first high mountains stage, which finishes with the 1,519m climb of the Altopiano del Montasio.
