HTC-Columbia's Marco Pinotti wrapped up a fine Giro d'Italia with a second place on the stage 21 time trial Sunday, and in ninth place overall - his best ever result on general classification in a three-week tour.  In the closing 15-kilometre time trial in Verona, Pinotti clocked the best time at the intermediate checkpoint halfway round the course, and completed the stage just two seconds down on Sweden's Gustav Erik Larsson. Overall, the HTC-Columbia rider was fourteen minutes and 20 seconds down on winner Ivan Basso.

"This has been Marco's best major Tour result by far, and to achieve that in a Giro d'Italia as challenging as this one - I would say the hardest of the last five or six years - was really exceptional," commented HTC-Columbia's sports director Valerio Piva.
"He fought hard from start to finish in the overall classification, and it's a GC result which  I'm sure will inspire the team's other riders.  Kanstantsin Sivtsov was supposed to be our leader here but he broke his collarbone in a crash before the race started, and Marco has really stepped up to the challenge."

In addition to Pinotti contending the overall, HTC-Columbia took two stages in the 2010 Giro, with Matt Goss of Australia and André Greipel of Germany.  "André hung on all the way through the mountains despite being ill, and was determined to get his stage win. That determination finally paid off. As for Matt, he saw his chance and he took it - all credit to him.  Craig Lewis came close, too, in the stage to Cesenatico. He only just missed out on the chance of a win, but he played his cards well."

Overall Piva feels HTC-Columbia can be "more than satisfied how we rode in the Giro this year.  We came here with what was essentially a team to work for the bunch sprints, but we consistently performed above expectations all round."