Yates wins stage nine to cement lead, Froome loses time

GRAN SASSO: Simon Yates cemented his position as overall leader of the Giro d’Italia by winning the ninth stage but it was a bad day for British compatriot Chris Froome, who lost more than a minute in the general classification.

Yates was part of a five-man group that escaped in the final kilometres of the summit finish and the Mitchelton-Scott cyclist attacked right at the end to edge out Thibaut Pinot.

Four-time Tour de France winner Froome had been ninth – 1:10 behind Yates.

But the Team Sky cyclist struggled at the end of the 225km route from Pesco Sannita up to Gran Sasso d’Italia and is now 2: 27 behind his countryman.

“I realise how big it is to win my first stage with the Maglia Rosa,” Yates said.

“That one is for the boys who rode at the front all day. It’s really nice.

“Since the beginning of the day we believed in the possibility of winning the stage as well as defending the Maglia Rosa.”

It looked like a cyclist from the 14- man breakaway would win with an advantage of around eight minutes heading into the penultimate climb, less than 50km from the finish.

However, Astana drove a high pace at the head of the peloton to slash their advantage in half by the time they reached the final ascent of the Gran Sasso d’Italia, with 26km remaining.

Attacks started from the break and Fausto Masnada got away before he too was reeled in 2.7km from the line, setting up the final attack and victory for Yates.

Yates’ teammate Esteban Chaves was third to leapfrog defending champion Tom Dumoulin in the overall standings and move into second, 32 seconds off the pace.

Dumoulin is a further six seconds behind. — AP