Australian Jai Hindley (Bora) knocked out Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz on the Tour of Italy on Saturday in the 20th and penultimate stage won by Italian Alessandro Covi (UAE) at Passo Fedaia.
Carapaz lost by nearly a minute and a half to Hindley in the last three kilometers of the big Dolomites stage.
The Australian will arrive at the start of the time trial on Sunday in Verona with a 1 min 25 sec lead over the Olympic champion, who has been wearing a pink jersey since the 14th period.
For the victory on stage, Covi led Slovenian Domen Novak by 32 seconds and Italian Giulio Ciccone by 37 seconds.
Covi, who came out of the breakaway at Pordoi, 53 kilometers from the finish, approached Fedaia’s last climb (14 km at 7.6%) with more than two minutes in a counterattack group and six minutes in a pack of favorites.
Candidates for the podium remained together in San Pellegrino then Pordoi, the first two passes of the day, in the wake of fellow Spaniard Mikel Landa. They waited for the steepest slope of Passo Fedaia to explain themselves.
Hindley started at 3.5 kilometers and Carapaz bent 2800 meters from the finish. The pink jersey wearer, suffering, was even caught by Landa and conceded 1 min 28 sec to the Australian.
Hindley, 26, finished second in the Giro in 2020. That year he wore the pink jersey on the eve of the graduation and lost it in the final test in time in Milan. But he approached the time -equivalent with the future winner, Briton Tao Geoghegan Hart.
Covi, a 23 -year -old Piedmontese, won the Giro for the first time. Last year, he took 2nd place on the Montalcino stage, at white paths of Tuscany, and the 3rd at the top of Monte Zoncolan.
On Sunday, the 17.4 kilometer final time test takes place at the Torricelle circuit in Verona, used in the 1999 and 2004 Worlds.
The 2019 Giro that Carapaz won ended at the same time, until it reached the famous arenas where Italian Francesco Moser overtook Frenchman Laurent Fignon in an unforgettable edition in 1984.
Source: Radio-Canada
