Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard took the Giro d'Italia leader's pink jersey for the first time after completing a hat-trick of stage wins, as the race favourite soloed to the summit to take stage 14 on Saturday, proving too strong for his rivals in the Alps.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider, already successful on the summit finishes on stages seven and nine, attacked with less than 5 km left of the gruelling 133-km ride from Aosta to Pila, and now looks set to win the Giro at his first attempt.
Austrian Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) was second, 49 seconds behind, with Australian former winner Jai Hindley taking third.
Portugal's Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious), who had hung onto the pink jersey since taking the overall lead after stage five, trailed in almost three minutes behind Vingegaard, and drops to second place, 2 minutes 26 seconds off the new leader.
STAGE 14 RESULTS
1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma - Lease a Bike 3:53:01
2. Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon CMA CGM Team +49
3. Jai Hindley (AUS) Red Bull - BORA - +58 hansgrohe
4. Davide Piganzoli (ITA) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +1:03
5. Giulio Pellizzari (ITA) Red Bull - BORA - " hansgrohe
6. Thymen Arensman (NED) Netcompany INEOS +1:23
7. Michael Storer (AUS) Tudor Pro Cycling Team +1:35
8. Wout Poels (NED) Unibet Rose Rockets +2:08
9. Jan Hirt (CZE) NSN Cycling Team "
10. Egan Bernal (COL) Netcompany INEOS "
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma - Lease a Bike 56:08:41
2. Afonso Eulálio (POR) Bahrain Victorious +2:26
3. Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon CMA CGM Team +2:50
5. Jai Hindley (AUS) Red Bull - BORA - +3:43 hansgrohe
6. Giulio Pellizzari (ITA) Red Bull - BORA - +4:22 hansgrohe
7. Michael Storer (AUS) Tudor Pro Cycling Team +4:46
8. Ben O'Connor (AUS) Team Jayco AlUla +5:22
9. Derek Gee-West (CAN) Lidl - Trek +5:41
10. Davide Piganzoli (ITA) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +6:13