Ukrainian Serhiy Honchar (De-Nardi) powered along 52km of rain-slick roads to win the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday, while the Giro’s 22-year-old revelation, Damiano Cunego (Saeco) surrendered the maglia rosa to Yaroslav Popovych (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago), who finished third on the day.

The 52km Trieste-Altopiano Carsico individual time trial began with a flat 4km, then segued into a 12km climb followed by a 26km descent, concluding with a flat run to the finish. And once the rain began to fall, it proved a tough stage indeed.

"The rain bothered me; I hadn't planned attacking the course in that way," said Honchar. "It was impossible to push, and you had to take risks at any corner. I was targeting the stage win and knew that (Bradley) McGee would be the man to beat."

McGee, too, was pleased with his his race, despite finishing second to the Ukrainian.

His third-place finish was good enough to displace Damiano Cunego as overall leader

Photo: AFP

"I had a great time," the FDJeux.com rider said. "I tried to take as little risk as possible to avoid falling. I've never raced such a long time trial for a win. Eighteen seconds behind Honchar is a good sign for the coming days, even if, of course, I would have preferred to win."

It was a hard slog for a few of the overall contenders, though. Race leader Cunego slipped to sixth overall at 1:48 after finishing 23rd on the day, 3:02 off the pace.

"I'm not a specialist against the clock," he said afterward. "Now I'm looking forward to the mountains."

Cunego's Saeco teammate and leader, defending Giro champion Gilberto Simoni, was en route to a solid ride until he slid out on a right-hand bend in the wet, shredding his shorts and bloodying one arm and hand; he would finish a disappointing 2:31 behind Honchar.

"I fell, what do you want me to say?" he snarled afterward at waiting journalists.

Simoni's chief rival for the overall, Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola), punctured after posting the fastest intermediate time, three seconds better than McGee, and had to change bikes. He, too, lost nearly two and a half minutes.

VeloNews.com diarist Magnus Backstedt (Alessio-Bianchi) led briefly after posting a 1:08:37, but was bumped out of the top spot by Swiss Rubens Bertogliati (Saunier Duval), whose mark in turn was eclipsed by Marzio Bruseghin (Fassa Bortolo).

McGee, the favorite for the stage, took the top spot late in the day, only to be pushed into second place by Honchar, who finished fastest in 1:06:45. McGee slipped to second at 0:18 with Popovych third at 0:34.

The maglia rosa went to Popovych, just three seconds ahead of Honcha, with McGee third at 1:02 and Simoni fourth at 1:24. Asked about his deficit to Popovych, Simoni replied, "We'll be having fun in the mountains."

Sunday's 175km 14th stage includes a brief foray into Slovenia before ending in the Croatian city of Pula. The mainly flat course will give the race's biggest star this year, six-stage winner Alessandro Petacchi, a chance to claim a record-equaling seventh stage win this year for his Fassa Bortolo team. –AFP and Reuters contributed to this report.