Arab Times

Hindley wins toughest Giro stage, López stays in pink

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BLOCKHAUS, Italy, May 15, (AP): Australian cyclist Jai Hindley won the ninth stage of the Giro d’Italia atop the fearsome Blockhaus on Sunday but Juan Pedro López managed to keep hold of the leader’s pink jersey after the race’s toughest leg.

Hindley, who rides for Bora-Hansgrohe, edged out Romain Bardet and overall favorite Richard Carapaz in a sprint to the line at the end of an arduous day of climbing.

Mikel Landa and João Almeida also finished with the same time.

But López surprising­ly kept hold of the maglia rosa as the Spaniard finished the 191-kilometer (119-mile) route from Isernia 1 minute, 46 seconds behind Hindley on a day in which several favorites lost time on the iconic final climb, that had double-digit gradients along a series of hairpin bends leading to the line.

López is 12 seconds ahead of Almeida now and 14 ahead of Bardet, with Carapaz just a second further back.

As well as the Blockhaus, the route also included the topcategor­y climb to Passo Lanciano and two other categorize­d ascents on a day with 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) of climbing.

A nine-man breakaway led the stage for most of the day but they were caught and the peloton started the final climb to Blockhaus together.

Simon Yates was one of the favorites dropped early on and the British rider crossed the line with his right knee heavily strapped. He had sustained the injury on the fourth stage climb up Etna.

Carapaz tried to attack several times in the final 5 kilometers but was unable to shake off his rivals for the stage win.

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