COURMAYEUR, Italy – Richard Carapaz of Ecuador won the grueling 14th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday to move into the overall lead.
Carapaz, who rides for Movistar, attacked with just over 15 miles remaining of the 81-mile route from Saint-Vincent to Courmayeur in the Valle d’Aosta region near the French border.
The 25-year-old Carapaz made his move with 1.8 miles to go on the penultimate climb of the Colle San Carlo and held off other overall contenders to claim his second win of this year’s race and his third overall.
“The truth is that we used a strategy that was well planned by the team,” Carapaz said. “We knew that I and Mikel Landa were in good form so we had to catch the right moment to attack. I did everything as planned.
“It’s hard to believe that I’m in the Maglia Rosa. It was a dream and I’ve worked hard for this.”
Durango’s Sepp Kuss had another strong climb as he finished in 24th with a time of 4:09.43. He was 7:20 behind Carapaz and was the second-highest finisher from Team Jumbo-Visma as Primoz Roglic finished in eighth and was 1:54 behind the leader. It was also Kuss’ highest finish at the Giro this year as his previous best was a 53rd-place finish in Friday’s stage 13.
Simon Yates recovered after being dropped on that climb to finish second, 1 minute, 32 seconds behind Carapaz at the end of the stage which featured five climbs and a second successive uphill finish, to the foot of the Monte Bianco Skyway.
Vincenzo Nibali crossed the line in third place, 1:54 behind, with the same time as a number of other overall favorites, including Roglic.
Carapaz now leads Roglic by seven seconds with Nibali third, 1:47 behind.
Sunday’s 15th stage is mainly flat for the first 160 kilometers but has three categorized climbs in the final part of the 144-mile route from Ivrea to Como.
The three-week race ends in Verona on June 2.
