Ayuso bursts to stage win as Roglič takes overall lead at Giro d'Italia
The Spaniard earned his first ever Grand Tour stage victory with a burst of energy 400 meters before the end of the seventh stage, ahead of his UAE Team Emirates teammate Isaac Del Toro and Egan Bernal.
Roglič, the pre-race favorite and 2023 champion, crossed next — the peloton all four seconds back.
It was good enough for Roglič to take the pink jersey. Ayuso improved to second overall, trailing Roglič by four seconds. Del Toro was third, nine seconds off the lead.
Friday's stage was the hardest so far with four classified climbs on the 168-kilometer (104 mile) route from Castel di Sangro, including the top category ascent to the finish in Tagliacozzo.
'This win is a big step in my career,' Ayuso said. 'This is my fourth Grand Tour, I've been close to winning at the Vuelta. To do it today at my first Giro d'Italia is special.'
Ayuso calculated his late push.
'I knew that I could do only one attack and not mess around with two or three on this final which was very explosive,' he said. 'Others started attacking before. When I saw my distance I went full gas. It was important to not only get the win but also try and recover the time I lost in the time trial.'
Femur broken
The big crash in Thursday's stage took its toll on teams. Jai Hindley, the 2022 champion, was concussed.
Before Friday's stage, the Israel-Premier Tech team reported that Czech cyclist Jan Hirt broke his right femur in the crash. Incredibly, Hirt finished the stage and then went to the hospital.
Juri Hollmann of Alpecin Deceuninck sustained a 'double fracture of the right forearm and a complicated fracture of the right hip,' his team said. The German was being flown to Belgium for surgery.
Michel Ries of the Arkea-B&B Hotels team also didn't start Friday's stage.
Saturday's stage is a 197-kilometer (122-mile) route from Giulianova, a coastal town on the Adriatic Sea, to Castelraimondo.
The Giro ends in Rome on June 1.
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