Canada's Ryder Hesjedal slips 4 more spots at Giro d'Italia

Lithuanian rider Ramunas Navardauskas won the 11th stage of the Giro d'Italia with a solo breakaway Wednesday while Vincenzo Nibali held on to the overall lead.

Navardauskas, who rides for the Garmin-Sharp squad, clocked four hours 23 minutes 14 seconds over the 182-kilometre leg from Tarvisio to Vajont, which featured two category-2 climbs, including an uphill finish.

Italians Daniel Oss and Stefano Pirazzi finished second and third, respectively. Oss crossed 1 minute, eight seconds behind and Stefano Pirazzi was 2:59 back.

Nibali maintained a 41-second lead over 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, as the top of the overall standings remained unchanged.

Defending champion Ryder Hesjedal finished 130th in Tuesday's stage, 13 minutes 35 seconds behind Navardauskas. He slipped to 37th in the overall classification, 31 minutes 39 seconds behind Nibali.

The stage was held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Vajont damn disaster, which killed nearly 2,000 people and devastated the area on Oct. 9, 1963.

Meanwhile, French rider Sylvain Georges tested positive for a banned stimulant in a doping test at the Giro d'Italia.

The international cycling federation said Wednesday that traces of the stimulant Heptaminol were found in a urine sample from Georges after Friday's seventh stage.

Georges can request that a backup "B" sample be tested.

No provisional ban was given, although Georges did not start Wednesday's 11th stage.

The 28-year-old Georges rides for the AG2R La Mondiale team.

During last week's fourth stage, Georges attempted a solo attack on the final climb but was quickly chased down.

After Tuesday's 10th stage he stood 81st overall.

It was the first doping case reported during this year's race.

The UCI considers Heptaminol a specified substance, which the World Anti-Doping Agency defines as those that are "more susceptible to a credible, non-doping explanation." Bans for such substances are often shorter, and athletes have a better chance of proving that they did not intend to consume it or enhance their performance.