PILA, Italy — Pre-race favorite Jonas Vingegaard moved into the overall lead of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday, emphatically taking control of the race by soloing to victory on the brutal 14th stage.
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Vingegaard attacked on the daunting climb up to the finish, with just under five kilometers remaining, and no one could follow. The Team Visma-Lease a Bike rider beat Felix Gall by 49 seconds, with Jai Hindley nine seconds further back.
The 133-kilometer (83-mile) route from Aosta included five climbs, two of them ranked category one, including a huge 16-kilometer (10-mile) slog up to the finish at Pila
Afonso Eulálio, who had been in pink since finishing second in the fifth stage , was dropped on the final climb and finished nearly three minutes behind Vingegaard.
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The young Portuguese rider managed to remain second in the overall standings, 2:26 behind Vingegaard and 24 seconds ahead of Gall, who moved into third.
Sunday’s 15th stage will offer the riders some respite before a tough final week in the high mountains. The entirely flat 157-kilometer (98-mile) route starts in Voghera and ends with four laps of a circuit in Milan.
The 109th men’s Giro ends on May 31 in Rome.
The women’s Giro runs from May 30-June 7 with Italian rider Elisa Longo Borghini as the defending champion.
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AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling
