Simon Yates claimed victory on stage nine of the Giro d’Italia to extend his overall lead to more than half a minute.
The 25-year-old timed his stage finish at Gran Sasso d’Italia to perfection, pouncing in the final 100 metres of a climb to beat his Mitchelton-Scott team-mate Esteban Chaves and Frenchman Thibaut Pinot.
Chaves, Yates and Richard Carapaz chased down Pinot in the closing metres of the stage, with Yates rounding Pinot in the final moments to claim a dramatic victory.
Yates, wearing the race leader’s pink jersey ahead of stage nine, is now 32 seconds clear of Chaves going into Monday’s rest day.
"That one was for the boys who've been riding on the front all day,” Yates said to the BBC. “They've had a couple of tough days, always riding on the front on some really long stages.
"From the beginning of the stage today, we were always thinking that if we kept the break close enough then it might be possible for the stage.
"Once Astana showed some interest in the stage then I knew it was possible, but you never know deep into the final.
"It was a very difficult day. Chris (Froome) crashed yesterday; maybe he was affected by that."
Yates has held the pink jersey since finishing second behind Chaves at Mount Etna on stage six.
Team Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin is now third in the overall standings behind Yates and Chaves, but Chris Froome would’ve hoped for a better day as he lost a minute on the race leaders. Sportsbeat 2018