Stage 12 of the 2011 Giro d'Italia took place on 19 May, and the race concluded on 29 May. The 2011 edition commemorated the 150th anniversary of Italian unification. The majority of the race was situated entirely within Italy – only the end of stage 13 and beginning of stage 14, in Austria, featured roads outside the home nation.
Alberto Contador entered the second half of the Giro holding the race lead, and never relinquished it. Instead, he continually added to his advantage. After no stage was second place closer to him than it had been the day before. The largest chunk of time taken in one day came in stage 13, the first of three high-mountain stages that preceded the Giro's second rest day. Contador and José Rujano finished over a minute and a half ahead of the rest of the field. Contador essentially gifted the stage win to Rujano, something he also did later in the race with his former teammate Paolo Tiralongo, since the three-minute overall advantage it gave him was already close to the largest he had ever had in a Grand Tour. He did take one stage win for himself in the second half of the Giro, the uphill individual time trial to the Nevegal.
Two stages in the second half of the Giro had their courses altered shortly before they were run. Stage 14 had been hyped as the debut of the Monte Crostis in the Giro d'Italia, but commissaries from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) mandated it be removed the night before Stage 14 was run. The Giro's last stage, an individual time trial in Milan, was also shortened. Stage 15 was perhaps the queen stage, containing five high-rated climbs, including the Cima Coppi (the race's tallest climb) at the Passo Giau.
In the end, Contador won the Giro by over six minutes against Michele Scarponi, and also won the points classification. Roman Kreuziger and Stefano Garzelli won the other jersey awards.
LegendJerseys appearing in the table on the left of the page indicate those worn by the cyclist during the particular stage, while those appearing in the table on the right of the page indicate those awarded to the cyclist after the stage. Denotes the leader of the General classification Denotes the leader of the Mountains classification Denotes the leader of the Points classification Denotes the leader of the Young rider classification s.t. indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the one receiving the time above him, and was therefore credited with the same finishing time.
Stage 12 19 May 2011 – Castelfidardo to Ravenna,
This was the last flat stage, and as such was seen as likely to be the last stage in which the Giro's sprinters would take the start.
On easily the most straightforward day of racing at this year's Giro, four relatively unaccomplished riders formed the morning breakaway early in the race. Stef Clement, Michał Gołaś, Miguel Minguez, and Davide Ricci Bitti had just seven professional victories among them, all of them Clement's. Their time gap over the peloton was never more than four minutes, since the sprinters' teams, mainly , were vigilant not to let the prime opportunity go to waste. The catch was as controlled as the time gap had been for the stage, occurring with to go. drove the peloton into the final kilometers to set up their sprinter Mark Cavendish, effectively staying at the front of the field all day. With to go, a crash occurred about 15 riders deep in the peloton. 's sprinter Robbie Hunter lost the front wheel on his bicycle and bickered with rider Sacha Modolo who had crashed near him, even though an rider had caused the crash. While only a little more than a dozen riders actually finished together, everyone who was in the front group at the time of the crash was given the same time at the end of the stage since it took place within the stage's final . executed a very strong leadout, with Lars Bak driving from to go before pulling off for Alex Rasmussen to do the same until a little about to go. At that point, Cavendish's favored leadout man Mark Renshaw took over, leaving the Manx sprint ace to launch from to go. The sprint was tight at the finish, with 's Davide Appollonio neck-and-neck with Cavendish, but the man paid off his team's efforts by taking his second win of the Giro, making them the only team to this point to win two mass-start stages. Points leader Alessandro Petacchi was third.
Stage 12 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.General classification after stage 12 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 59" 3 + 1' 21" 4 + 1' 28" 5 + 1' 28" 6 + 1' 37" 7 + 1' 41" 8 + 1' 47" 9 + 2' 21" 10 + 2' 21"
Stage 13 20 May 2011 – Spilimbergo to Grossglockner (Austria),
This was the first of three consecutive high mountain stages before the second rest day. This was the second time the Giro finished at Grossglockner, the first being 40 years prior. However, this time the race did not go to its summit, instead climbing to an elevation of . The climb was long and averaged more than 6% gradient, with hardest sections at 14%, though the easiest part of the climb occurred right at the finish.
Several sprinters and leadout men pulled out of the Giro before this stage was run, and several more failed to complete it. A total of ten riders left the race, chief among them stage winners Mark Cavendish, Francisco Ventoso, and points leader Alessandro Petacchi. The points classification lead transferred to overall race leader Alberto Contador, with second-placed Roberto Ferrari wearing the red jersey during this stage. The race began with a flurry of attacks and counter-attacks, resulting in none going clear for quite a while. Finally, into the stage, 16 riders from 15 teams came free. was the squad to place two riders, having both Pablo Lastras and Branislau Samoilau in the group. Lastras was the best-placed rider in the group, 28th overall at just under seven minutes back of Contador. The chase was taken up not by Contador's squad but by , indicating perhaps that their leader Igor Antón was targeting the stage win.
Samoilau won the first two climbs on the course, and as such was the leader of the mountains classification pending the conclusion of the stage. As the breakaway neared the top of the third climb, still a good from the finish of the stage, Robert Kišerlovski set out on the attack alone. After a short while, he attained a two-minute time gap over the rest of the morning escapees. The main field, rapidly dwindling to a select group of overall contenders and their support riders, began reabsorbing the members of the morning breakaway as the Grossglockner ascent began. Two riders from the breakaway, Cayetano Sarmiento and former race leader Pieter Weening made it to the front of the race and displaced Kiserlovski as the first man on the road with about to go. Mere minutes later, the group of overall contenders made it to the front of the race. Michele Scarponi and Igor Antón were the first riders on the attack up the Austrian peak, but neither got away. Contador then rode clear, but it was not an explosive attack like he had put in on the stage that ended at Mount Etna, rather a slow, grinding move. The only rider to have an answer was José Rujano. Again unlike the Etna stage, where Rujano struggled mightily simply to hold Contador's wheel, the two were able to work cohesively for the final of the stage and build a substantial time gap over the remainder of the field. Rujano, having lost five minutes during stage 5 earlier in the race, was an ideal ally for Contador in that had climbing prowess but was not an overall threat. The two approached the finish with the other overall contenders still a full away. Contador did not contest a sprint for the line, content to have Rujano win the stage. From behind them, the tandem of John Gadret and Hubert Dupont both rode away from the other overall contenders who Contador and Rujano left behind. Gadret crossed the line third, almost a full minute and a half down on Contador and Rujano but, with actual time and time bonus, 17 seconds better than the others.
Contador's lead in the overall standings surpassed three minutes with his gains on this stage. He was also awarded all three jerseys for which he was eligible, the pink for the general classification, the green for the mountains classification, and the red for the points classification. Due to greater losses by Kanstantsin Sivtsov and Christophe Le Mével, Vincenzo Nibali and Michele Scarponi were able to move into the top three overall, but at a significant gap to Contador.
Stage 13 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 + 1' 27" 4 + 1' 29" 5 + 1' 29" 6 + 1' 36" 7 + 1' 36" 8 + 1' 36" 9 + 1' 36" 10 + 1' 36"General classification after stage 13 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 3' 09" 3 + 3' 16" 4 + 3' 25" 5 + 3' 29" 6 + 3' 53" 7 + 4' 02" 8 + 4' 05" 9 + 4' 35" 10 + 4' 38"
Stage 14 21 May 2011 – Lienz (Austria) to Monte Zoncolan,
As the course was originally designed, this was perhaps the Giro's single most difficult stage. The stage ends at Monte Zoncolan, visited for the fourth time in the past eight years and second year in a row. The Zoncolan is not especially tall, but it is absurdly steep, averaging a 12% gradient with sections as high as 22%. Originally, it was but the final challenge on the course as the first-category Monte Crostis, a new climb which was to be used for the first time in this year's Giro, crests from the finish. The Crostis is nearly as steep as the Zoncolan, and is taller, with its summit at . Even before the Crostis were a second-category climb and two third-category climbs, leaving hardly a single kilometer of flat racing in this stage. Giro favorite Alberto Contador reconned both the Crostis and the Zoncolan climbs in the weeks before the Giro, saying that he liked the Zoncolan, but that he was afraid of the Crostis.