Sepp Kuss and Jonas Vingegaard led Visma-Lease a Bike in the Dolomites on Friday. Kuss won stage 19 atop Piani di Pezze with a historic solo victory, completing the Grand Tour stage victory trilogy after Tour de France success in 2021 and Vuelta a Espana wins in 2019 and 2023. The 151km stage included about 5,000m of climbing and technical descents, ending in Alleghe. Giulio Ciccone attacked on the final long descent and built a one-minute lead, but Kuss caught him on the last uphill climb and rode clear with just over 2km remaining. Kuss finished 13 seconds ahead of Derek Gee-West, with Ciccone third, Felix Gall fourth, and Vingegaard fifth. Vingegaard’s general classification lead stands at 4min 3sec over Gall. Jhonatan Narvaez abandoned the race due to complications from a crash during Thursday’s transfer, ending his Giro with three stage wins.
"Teammates Sepp Kuss and Jonas Vingegaard dominated the high mountains for Visma-Lease a Bike on Friday as the former claimed a historic solo victory on stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia, and the latter firmly defended his overall lead. By winning the brutal mountain stage atop Piani di Pezze in the Dolomites, Kuss became the 116th rider to complete the Grand Tour stage victory trilogy, with the American adding an Italian success to wins at the Tour de France in 2021 and the Vuelta a Espana in 2019 and 2023."
"The monstrous 151km stage through the Dolomites packed a brutal 5,000m of climbing into a relentless rollercoaster of high-altitude climbs and technical descents, before finishing in the Veneto village of Alleghe. Lidl-Trek's Giulio Ciccone seized his chance on the final long descent, the Italian breaking free from the chasing group to establish a one-minute lead with 10km remaining. However, Kuss launched a relentless pursuit as soon as the final uphill climb commenced, catching and passing Ciccone with just over 2km left before riding clear."
"Kuss crossed the finish line alone in front of thousands of cheering fans to secure the victory 13 seconds ahead of the Canadian, Derek Gee-West, of Lidl-Trek. Ciccone held off the rest of the chasers to take third, 36sec behind Kuss. The Austrian Felix Gall of Decathlon took fourth, 39sec behind Kuss, just ahead of Vingegaard, who crossed the line with the same time in fifth. That leaves Vingegaard with a commanding lead of 4min 3sec over Gall in the general classification."
"Earlier on Friday, Jhonatan Narvaez of UAE Team Emirates was forced to abandon the race due to complications from a minor incident the previous day. The team said the Ecuadorean had a small crash on Thursday during the post-stage transfer back to the team bus and the resulting discomfort was too severe to continue. Narvaez leaves the Giro with three stage victories."
Read at www.theguardian.com
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