Author: Reuters

• Isaac del Toro finishes third and extends overall lead

• Denmark’s Pedersen proves too strong on gruelling finish

Mads Pedersen won his fourth stage of this year’s Giro d’Italia when he sprinted to victory on Friday’s stage 13, beating Wout van Aert to the line while Isaac del Toro maintained his overall lead to retain the maglia rosa.

As the riders neared the finish of the 180km ride from Rovigo to Vicenza, Pedersen was fourth when he launched his bid for victory on the uphill sprint as Van Aert stayed close on his wheel. Del Toro had done well to earn bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint but the 21-year-old did not have the legs to challenge the sprint heavyweights as he settled for third, leaving Pedersen and Van Aert to battle it out for victory.

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• Overall leader finishes 10 seconds behind Ecuadorian
• UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso is second

Richard Carapaz won stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia on Wednesday with a solo ride in the last nine kilometres, with the leader, Isaac del Toro, finishing second in a sprint to the line, 10 seconds behind the former Olympic champion.

Carapaz, the winner of the 2019 Giro, timed his attack to perfection for his fourth career stage win in the race while Del Toro retained the pink jersey, adding six seconds to his lead.

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• Dry roads help Dutch rider to win stage 10 time-trial
• Juan Ayuso now just 25 seconds adrift in second place

Dutchman Daan Hoole won stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia as rain hampered the later starters in Tuesday’s time trial, which ended with Mexico’s Isaac del Toro clinging to the overall lead.

Hoole, the 26-year-old Lidl-Trek rider, took advantage of dry roads to cover the 28.6km from Lucca to Pisa in 32 minutes and 30 seconds for his first Grand Tour stage win. By the time the leading riders left the start gate rain was falling, making the corners slippery and reducing speeds.

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• Belgian beats Mexican rival in dash to the finish
• Primoz Roglic falls further behind after crash

Wout Van Aert battled to victory on stage nine of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday, holding off Isaac del Toro, who moved into the overall lead after the pair went for broke and stole a march on the rest of the field.

Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), riding his first Giro, used all his Strade Bianche experience to outsmart Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates), with Italy’s Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) coming in third.

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• Australian escapes for remarkable solo win
• Home hope Ulissi ousts Primoz Roglic from maglia rosa

Luke Plapp of Team Jayco Alula won stage eight of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday with a formidable solo effort on the 197km ride from Giulianova to Castelraimondo while Diego Ulissi became the first Italian in four years to take the pink jersey.

After nearly 20 riders formed a breakaway group with 100km to go, Plapp attacked the Montelago climb and the Australian rode to victory by a handsome margin and claim his first Grand Tour stage win.

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• Several riders come down on stage six in wet conditions
• Kaden Groves wins but no points or time gaps recorded

Kaden Groves won the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia in a sprint finish on Thursday, but the stage was neutralised following a huge crash in wet conditions on the 227km ride from Potenza to Naples.

The longest stage of this year’s Giro had only a winner to celebrate as the crash, which occurred with about 70km to go, forced organisers to make the decision not to award points, time gaps or bonuses. Groves crossed the finish line a few seconds shy of five hours on the road, ahead of Milan Fretin. Paul Magnier, who had also crashed earlier in the stage, finished third.

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• Danish rider extends overall lead with third stage victory
• Britain’s Tom Pidcock grabs third spot on 151km ride

Mads Pedersen continued his domination of sprint finishes at the Giro d’Italia by narrowly winning stage five on Wednesday, his third stage victory of this year’s race which extended the Danish rider’s overall lead.

At the end of the 151km ride from Ceglie Messapica to Matera, Pedersen appeared to struggle with the pace on the climb to the finish, but recovered before starting his dash to the line early, just managing to hold off his challengers.

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• 21-year-old wins stage two by 1sec for Ineos Grenadiers
• Second is enough for Primoz Roglic to take overall lead

Josh Tarling of Ineos Grenadiers set a time-trial pace even the race favourite, Primoz Roglic, could not match to win stage two of the Giro d’Italia by one second in Albania.

Tarling had a nervous wait before his first Grand Tour stage victory was confirmed as the 21-year-old Welshman watched Roglic come so close, but the Slovene had to settle for second place with the consolation of taking over the leader’s pink jersey for Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe.

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