Quintana reclaims pink jersey with 2 stages to go in Giro

PIANCAVALLO, Italy (AP) Nairo Quintana reclaimed the pink jersey from Tom Dumoulin with two stages to go in the Giro d'Italia on Friday, setting up what could be a tense finale in Milan on Sunday.

Dumoulin couldn't keep up with his main rivals in the final uphill finish of the three-week race and trails Quintana, the 2014 winner from Colombia, by 38 seconds.

Two-time winner Vincenzo Nibali is third overall, 43 seconds behind Quintana.

With Thibaut Pinot of France fourth overall, 53 seconds back, the top four are grouped within less than a minute.

''It's pretty complicated. We have to adapt the strategy day-by-day,'' Quintana said.

Spanish rider Mikel Landa won the 19th stage in a breakaway, finally tasting victory after two second-place finishes and one third-place result.

Landa required nearly five hours to complete the 191-kilometer (119-mile) route from San Candido to Piancavallo. He finished nearly two minutes ahead of Rui Costa, with Stage 17 winner Pierre Rolland crossing third.

On Thursday, Dumoulin criticized the tactics of Quintana and Nibali, saying they were merely racing to make him lose - remarks that earned a sharp rebuke from Nibali.

Before Friday's stage, Dumoulin apologized to Nibali and the pair shook hands.

If anything, Dumoulin's comments appeared to have motivated Quintana and Nibali, who temporarily dropped Dumoulin on a downhill section midway through Friday's stage.

While the Dutchman caught up on the ensuing Sella Chianzutan climb, he didn't have the legs to keep up on the 15.4-kilometer climb to Piancavallo, which began at an average gradient of nearly 10 percent.

''I had bad legs from the start and I made a rookie mistake at the beginning, sitting at the back of the bunch on the downhill,'' Dumoulin said.

''In the final I tried to limit my losses and I did that very well. My team saved me a couple of times, so I have to thank them. Otherwise it would have been a much worse day. Bad legs today, but I hope they'll be better tomorrow.''

Quintana wore pink for one day after winning Stage 9. Dumoulin then took control by dominating a time trial in Stage 10 and had led ever since.

Quintana has also finished on the Tour de France podium three times.

The penultimate stage on Saturday is the last mountainous leg, a 190-kilometer (118-mile) route from Pordenone to Asiago featuring two first-category climbs - a long 24-kilometer ascent to Monte Grappa and a shorter but steeper 14-kilometer rise to Foza.

The 100th Giro ends on Sunday with an individual time trial from Monza to Milan.

''Tomorrow there will be another important stage and then I'll give it all in the time trial,'' Quintana said.