Yates up to second as Asgreen wins crash-hit Giro stage

After Kasper Asgreen won stage 14, which had a significant impact on the overall classification battle, Britain’s Simon Yates is now second overall in the Giro d’Italia.

Isaac del Toro’s race lead continued for a remarkable breakaway victory while Asgreen held on for the victory over Yates.

On the border between Italy and Slovenia, Nova Gorica/Gorizia was expected to host a bunch sprint, but several riders made it up 23 kilometers before the line to a dramatic finish.

About 20 riders avoided the chaos to keep up the chase of the breakaway trio after the crash split the peloton.

Asgreen, 30, who is Denmark’s EF Education-EasyPost rider, won his second Grand Tour stage by 16 seconds, couldn’t be defeated.

Kaden Groves, a bike rider from Visma-Lease, outsprinted Kaden Groves for second place.

Del Toro, 21, only survived another scare on the way to Treviso, where he was in the chase group and was still wearing the pink jersey.

As Del Toro, a rider for the UAE Team Emirates, extended his lead from 38 seconds to that of team-mate Ayuso going into the stage, Primoz Roglic and Antonio Tiberi lost time.

Asgreen and Mirco Maestri entered a breakaway group around Nova Gorica/Gorizia, along with fellow Italian rider Martin Marcellusi, on their second lap of the finishing circuit.

As the peloton approached a cobbled sector and received some rain, several riders fell and brought the rest of the peloton to a halt.

Giulio Ciccone, an Italian hope, was initially the biggest casualty because he was clearly in pain and couldn’t keep riding after the second attempt, leaving him more than five minutes adrift.

Ayuso, Roglic, Mads Pedersen, and Egan Bernal were all gradually missing from the front peloton and were undergoing damage limitation.

Del Toro’s back wheel slipped on the cobbles the following lap, but he managed to maintain his position.

The chase was then led by Alpecin-Deceuninck and Visma-Lease, but Asgreen was too strong.

Asgreen remarked, “It was a difficult day out there.” It’s annoying to destroy yourself completely in this way to win, but it’s worth it when things turn out well.