Author: Reuters

• Overall leader leaves nothing to chance on final climb

• Dane will claim first Giro by reaching Rome finish

Jonas Vingegaard all but won the Giro d’Italia on Saturday and his attention will soon turn to the Tour de France as he attempts to become the ninth man to complete the Giro-Tour double.

The Dane wrapped up the first part in style, soloing to victory atop Piancavallo at the end of the 20th and penultimate stage to extend his overall lead to more than five minutes from Felix Gall. Jai Hindley remained in third, 6min 25sec behind Vingegaard.

• Kuss completes grand tour stage win trilogy

• Vingegaard stays 4min 3sec clear of Gall in the GC

Teammates Sepp Kuss and Jonas Vingegaard dominated the high mountains for Visma-Lease a Bike on Friday as the former claimed a historic solo victory on stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia, and the latter firmly defended his overall lead.

By winning the brutal mountain stage atop Piani di Pezzè in the Dolomites, Kuss became the 116th rider to complete the Grand Tour stage victory trilogy, with the American adding an Italian success to wins at the Tour de France in 2021 and the Vuelta a España in 2019 and 2023.

• The 22-year-old Frenchman set up by teammate Stuyven

• Vingegaard keeps pink jersey after attack on final climb

Paul Magnier of Soudal Quick-Step completed a hat-trick of victories in this Giro d’Italia by winning a bunch sprint on stage 18 in Pieve di Soligo.

The 22-year-old Frenchman was perfectly set up by his teammate Jasper Stuyven in the final few high-speed turns and powered to the line, after 171km of racing, ahead of two Italian sprinters.

• Dane collects fourth stage victory of this year’s race

• Gall comes in second, with Hindley in third place

Jonas Vingegaard underlined his dominance on uphill finishes at the Giro d’Italia, launching a solo attack on the climb to Carì to claim victory on stage 16. It was the Dane’s fourth stage win of the race and further tightened his hold on the leader’s jersey, with overall honours now looking increasingly assured.

On Monday’s rest day, Vingegaard declared his desire to win a stage while wearing the pink jersey, and quickly followed up that promise in Switzerland on the 113km ride from Bellinzona. His lead at the top is now more than four minutes.

• Dane earns third stage win of this year’s race in Alps

• Visma-Lease a Bike rider set to win Giro at first attempt

Jonas Vingegaard took the Giro d’Italia leader’s pink jersey for the first time after completing a hat-trick of stage wins, the race favourite soloed to the summit to take stage 14, proving too strong for his rivals in the Alps.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider, already successful on the summit finishes on stages seven and nine and, aiming to become the eighth rider to win all three Grand Tours, attacked with less than 5km left of the gruelling 133km ride from Aosta to Pila. The Dane looks set to win the Giro at his first attempt.

• Home rider drops Leknessund before surging to win

• Bettiol: ‘I knew every single corner in the last 50km’

The Italian cyclist Alberto Bettiol attacked at the top of the final climb to ride solo to victory on stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia in Verbania on Friday, five years after his last stage win.

Bettiol, who also soloed to win a stage in 2021, caught Andreas Leknessund as they reached the Ungiasca summit and left the Norwegian in his wake before powering away on the descent to the shore of Lake Maggiore. The Italian took a quick glance over his shoulder before raising his arms long before the line in celebration, and his girlfriend, Lisa Finetti, was there to hug him after the finish.

• Belgian ‘always planned’ late attack that sealed stage 12

• Jonas Vingegaard now 33 seconds off the pink jersey

Alec Segaert stole a march to win stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday and his Bahrain Victorious teammate Afonso Eulálio snatched bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint to extend his overall lead.

The 175-km ride from Imperia to Novi Ligure looked to be headed for a sprint finish before the Belgian rider Segaert made his telling move 3km from the line and held off the chasing pack to take the win on his Giro debut.

• Ecuadorean collects stage victory No 3 of this edition

• Favourite Vingegaard stays 27 seconds behind leader

Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narváez edged out the Spaniard Enric Mas at the end of Wednesday’s stage 11 to win his third stage of this year’s Giro d’Italia as Afonso Eulálio retained the leader’s pink jersey.

Narváez (UAE Team Emirates XRG) and Mas (Movistar) were left to battle for the win after leaving the breakaway group on the final climb and Mas made the first move, only for the Ecuadorian to overtake him before the line. The Italian Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) won the race for third place at the end of the entertaining 195km ride from Porcari to Chiavari.