Carapaz leads the Giro when Simon Yates wins the 14th stage

Simon Yates won the 14th stage Gira d’Italia on Saturday when Richard Karapaz won the overall lead after 147 kilometers.

Yates attacked with four men who broke away from the group with less than 5km to victory in their second leg of this Jira, while Carapaz Inessa took the pink jersey from Juan Pedro Lopez.

The British rider, who lags far behind in the overall standings, finished 15 seconds ahead of Karapas, Jaya Hindley and Vincenzo Nibali after the 2019 winner Karapas attacked, leaving 28km but unable to maintain the lead.

Yates made his move shortly before the final descent and drove 4.5km home without attack when Karapas saw a seven-second gap between him and his opponent in the overall Hindley classification.

“Today my plan was to try to break away. I tried a few times in the beginning, but it was impossible. I took a few steps, but maybe the group was too big or I wasn’t released, ”Yates said.

Asked if Saturday’s victory made up for his crash in the ninth stage, when he lost more than 11 minutes on the climb to the Blockhouse, Yates shrugged, “Not really, I came here to win the race. I’ve had five stages already and that’s number six.

“There is a week left, but today was a big effort. I don’t know if I have anything left for the last week. “

Bora-hansgrohe disrupted the race when they made a brave attack, when 80 km remained, which led to a group of 12 people who separated, which was attended by many contenders for the overall title. They managed to increase their advantage in hunting for more than a minute by the time they first climbed the grueling ascent of Maddalena, about 50 km left.

This gap was widened as soon as the group entered the second and final round on the climbs at Superga and Maddalena, and when the riders gritted their teeth again, four of that group tried to take another break.

Lopez was in that group along with Nibali in his last Jira after announcing their retirement earlier this month, but they were quickly caught before Karapas made his 28km move.

The Giro winner three years ago, Karapaz was first caught by Hindley before Nibali and Yates joined them as soon as he passed the second ascent of Maddalena.

“It was a short but very difficult stage,” Karapaz said. “I’m thrilled with how it all went. This is the first positive step for the team. Now we will try to protect Maglia Rosa. I didn’t remember I also took it on stage 14 three years ago, but I’m excited to do it again. ”

And, looking at a local hero and downhill specialist who headed for what looked like an exciting sunset in Turin, Yates jumped out of a small pack and quickly left the trio trailing in his dust before crossing the line.