Russia's Denis Menchov was well placed to win the Giro d'Italia after defending his hold on the pink leader's jersey in the penultimate stage won by Belgium's Philippe Gilbert today.
Rabobank's Menchov finished with Danilo Di Luca and edged his advantage over the 2007 winner up to 20 seconds by coming second in the intermediate sprint.
The centenary edition of the race will now be decided in Sunday's time-trial in Rome, which should be well suited to Menchov.
Silence Lotto's Gilbert broke from the pack with about 1.5km and went on to take the 203km stage from Naples with relative ease.
