Luke Plapp in great escape as Italy's Ulissi take Giro lead
Australian Luke Plapp broke away on a 50km solo attack to win a hilly stage eight of the Giro d'Italia yesterday as veteran Italian all-rounder Diego Ulissi grabbed the overall lead.
A series of attacks ensued early in the hilly stage, with the main contenders allowing the escape to make it far enough ahead of them for Plapp to climb the podium as winner and, to the delight of the crowds, drink a considerable amount of the fizzy wine he sprayed over them.
The 24-year-old Jayco-Alula rider from Melbourne shook his head in disbelief at the finish after his first major win following an impressive solo effort in the picture-postcard hills. But just 38sec behind Plapp, third-placed Ulissi gazed at the clock in a nail-biting wait for overnight leader Primoz Roglic to cross the line.
Ulissi had been 4min 01sec down at the start and the main contenders for the title were just a handful of seconds outside that limit, meaning he couldn't celebrate until he knew they had missed the time cut.
'I was going for the stage win, I hadn't thought about the race lead until the fans started to shout about the pink jersey along the road,' Ulissi said.
Ulissi now leads Roglic by 17sec in the overall classification and will ride out in pink Sunday giving home crowds something to cheer.
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