CARAPAZ STRETCHES GIRO LEAD OVER ROGLIC
Italy’s Dario Cataldo claimed his first Giro d’italia stage win as Richard Carapaz stretched his lead over Primoz Roglic in the overall standings on Sunday.
Cataldo, 34, edged Mattia Cattaneo in a sprint finish to stage 15 while British riders Simon Yates and Hugh Carthy crossed third and fourth in Como.
Roglic lost 40 seconds having had to change to a team-mate’s bike before crashing on the final descent.
Yates, 26, rose from ninth to eighth in the overall standings. Cataldo and compatriot Cattaneo broke away early in the 232km stage, leading by over 15 minutes at one stage, before Cataldo claimed his first Giro stage win in his ninth year racing in his home race.
“It’s amazing,” said the Astana rider.
“It’s something I’ve been dreaming of all my life.“i was not thinking of a breakaway because I’d had two difficult days. I was thinking I just have to get to the finish line, but at the beginning my legs were OK so I tried to stay with Cattaneo.”
“My legs were still going well and at the end I was confident. I knew they (the chasing group) were 30 seconds behind at the end of the downhill so I had to keep going with the pace and it was an amazing finish.”
A mechanical problem meant Roglic had to switch to Jumbo-visma teammate Antwan Tolheok’s bike and fellow race favourite Vincenzo Nibali took advantage to attack during the final climb to the Civiglio.
The two-time Giro winner pulled away from Roglic and the Slovenian crashed on the descent as he tried to close the gap, but Richard Carapaz stayed with Nibali to establish himself as a strong contender.
Yates attacked three times in the stage from Ivrea and caught Nibali and Carapaz to edge up the standings again after losing considerable ground in last Sunday’s individual time trial. (BBC)