BENGALURU:
Simon Yates rode a stage for the ages when he stormed into the overall lead of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday as the Visma-Lease a Bike rider erased overall leader Isaac Del Toro’s lead to take the pink jersey on the penultimate stage of the race.
The stage was won by Australian Chris Harper of Jayco-AlUla, who was part of a 31-rider breakaway before he rode solo to the finish to claim a first Grand Tour stage win, while Alessandro Verre was second, nearly two minutes behind.
But all eyes were on Yates as he finished third to flip the general classification battle and take the overall lead in a stage that will go down in cycling history as one of the greatest ever witnessed on the Grand Tour.
Having started the day more than a minute behind Del Toro, Yates now holds a commanding lead of three minutes and 56 seconds while Richard Carapaz is a further 47 seconds behind.
Yates will now wear the pink jersey at what is expected to be his coronation in Rome in Sunday’s final flat stage.
On the 205 km ride from Verres to Sestriere where riders gained 4,500 metres in altitude in total, it was Carapaz or Yates who had to make a move if they were to take the pink jersey from Del Toro.
The stage is famous for its Colle delle Finestre climb, one of the hardest climbs on the continent which is 18 km long, of which the final eight kilometres are in the gravel before they approach the ski resort of Sestriere.
Redemption for Yates
In 2018, Yates saw his dreams of winning the Giro crumble on the Colle delle Finestre when Chris Froome’s attack left him far behind, but this time he may well have won it by redeeming himself on the iconic climb.
Carapaz first attacked on the lower slopes, but Del Toro followed suit as Yates was left behind. But the Briton chased them down and then attacked himself, with the other two doggedly holding on as they swapped positions.
However, a fourth attack from Yates saw him commit to it as he put some distance between himself and the GC contenders as he approached the gravel section.
Del Toro initially played it cool having started the day 81 seconds ahead of Yates, but as the Briton went across the summit, he had built a lead of a minute and 40 seconds.
Del Toro did not respond even as the cavalry arrived in the form of Wout van Aert, who joined his teammate Yates on the descent to lend his support to the Briton’s quest for the pink jersey.
With five kilometres left, Van Aert slowed down but that was all the help Yates needed as he powered to the finish while Del Toro seemed to have given up on chasing him down.
Earlier, Nicolas Prodhomme claimed the first Grand Tour stage win of his career when he rode solo to victory on stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia on Friday, while Mexico’s pink jersey holder Isaac Del Toro came second to extend his overall lead.
On their penultimate day in the mountains, the riders faced a brutal 166 km ride from Biella to Champoluc with five classified climbs and a total elevation gain of nearly 5,000 metres.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale’s Prodhomme broke free on the fourth climb to take the lead and eventually the victory to become the first Frenchman to win a Giro stage this year.
“I’ve worked a lot for this Giro d’Italia. I didn’t want to compete for the GC (general classification), I wanted to try and win a stage. I’ve waited for long for this win to come,” Prodhomme said.
“I won my first race three weeks ago (on the Tour of the Alps) but to win at the Giro d’Italia makes me very happy. It’s a beautiful day.” REUETRS
