Yates snatches Giro title on stunning penultimate stage

In the final stages of the Giro d’Italia, British rider Simon Yates won the pink jersey from Isaac del Toro and won his second Grand Tour title.

Del Toro held a 43-second lead over Richard Carapaz in the final competitive round of the race, with Yates falling one minute and 21 seconds behind.

Del Toro, 21, from Mexico, would have won the first Giro by successfully negotiating the Colle delle Finestre, which is the race’s highest point, and where Yates’ hopes of winning dwindled in 2018.

But as he attacked on the ascent, leaving Del Toro and Carapaz, the 2019 winner, in his wake, Yates, 32, exorcised those ghosts.

When he crested, he not only wiped out Del Toro’s advantage but was also one minute 41 seconds ahead of his general classification rivals.

As team-mate Wout van Aert was in the breakaway group, Yates’s Visma-Lease A Bike team masterfully caught him on the descent, helping him maintain a comprehensive lead over the final 30 kilometers.

Chris Harper, the first Australian rider to win the Grand Tour stage, passed Yates in a minute and 57 seconds to take third place on the day, making it his second victory.

Del Toro crossed the line five minutes after Yates, who was surrounded by media and gave him hugs from the team staff at the finish.

Del Toro is three minutes, 56 seconds ahead of Carapaz, who is third, entering Sunday’s processional stage in Rome.

Yates said, “I’m not really emotional, but I couldn’t hold back the tears.”

“I’ve worked hard year after year, and I’ve had a lot of setbacks, but I finally managed to pull it off.”

On the final stage of the mountain in 2018, Yates cracked and lost more than 38 minutes before Froome memorably won the pink jersey.

The same climb was scheduled for the 205km stage from Verres to Sestriere this year, but Yates later claimed he “always had it in mind” when the route was announced.

43 kilometers into the climb, Carapaz’s EF Education team attacked within a kilometer.

Del Toro became aware of the danger and quickly cut the lead over Carapaz, with the rest of the crowd retreating.

Yates then launched a series of attacks before finally breaking free, joining his general classification rivals, who were all out of the woods.