14th stage of the Giro | Richard Carapaz takes the pink jersey

(Turin) Richard Carapaz took the pink jersey of leader in the general classification of the Tour of Italy, Saturday, at the end of the 14^and stage which was won by Simon Yates.

Carapaz, an Ecuadorian cyclist who won the Giro in 2019 and the Olympic gold medal last year, launched his attack as he approached a pass towards Superga with around 30km to go at the stage, then he hung on after being caught by Jai Hindley, Vincenzo Nibali and Yates on the ascent of the penultimate pass — the Colle Della Maddalena.

Yates picked up the pace as he climbed the final small hill at Parco del Nobile, allowing him to drop Hindley, Carapaz and Nibali.

Yates, the British cyclist from the BikeExchange-Jayco team, finished 15 seconds ahead of Hindley, Carapaz and Nibali, who all crossed the finish line together, after nearly four hours of hard work.

For his part, the Canadian Alexander Cataford, of the Israel-Premier Tech team, finished the stage at 88^and rung, at 31:39 from Yates. The Ottawan is now 96^and in the general classification.

It was Yates’ second victory in the Giro, after winning the individual time trial in the second stage of the competition, and his sixth in his career at the Giro.

Yates, however, was dropped from the title chase during stage nine, which culminated at the top of the grueling Col Blockhaus.

The 147 km route from Santena to Turin was punctuated by the Superga and Maddlena passes, and included two laps of a circuit in the second part of the stage, which was more like a classic one-day cyclist.

The general classification was completely turned upside down, in particular because of the temperature – it was 34 degrees Celsius – and the furious pace of the peloton from the start.

Carapaz, who is part of the Ineos Grenadiers team, has a seven-second lead over Hindley, and Joao Almeida is third, 30 seconds away.

Juan Pedro Lopez, the Spaniard who had been wearing the pink jersey for 10 days, was dislodged when Carapaz launched his attack at the Superga pass. He is ninth, more than four minutes away.

2017 Giro winner Tom Dumoulin threw in the towel midway through the event due to lingering back pain.

In 1949, the Superga pass was the scene of the tragic plane crash that killed the entire Turin soccer team.

The 15^and stage scheduled for Sunday will stretch over 178 km between Rivarolo Canavese and Cogne, and will be punctuated by three long passes, including one leading to the finish line.

The Giro d’Italia will end next weekend in Verona.