Nicolas Prodhomme solos clear for stage win as Isaac Del Toro tightens grip on pink jersey
Nicolas Prodhomme won stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia as Isaac Del Toro boosted his overall lead ahead of this weekend's finale.
Frenchman Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R Mondiale) powered to his first Grand Tour victory after breaking away from a group at the front to go on his own with just under 30 of the 166 kilometres from Biella to Champoluc to go.
Around a minute behind him in second was Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates), with general classification rival Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) closely following in third.
Tyrone's Darren Rafferty (EF Education-Easypost) crossed the line over 32 minutes after Prodhomme, nine minutes ahead of compatriot Sam Bennett who finished with the final group of riders.
Rafferty is 84th in the general classification, while Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team's Bennett is 146th overall.
Carapaz attacked late on but Del Toro went with him and managed to outsprint him at the end.
It gave the Mexican another two seconds over second-placed Carapaz in the GC, with Del Toro's advantage standing at 43 seconds heading into Saturday's penultimate 205km stage from Verres to Sestriere.
The gap to Great Britain's Simon Yates (Team Visma) in third has grown from 51 seconds to a minute and 21 seconds after he was among the group that finished behind Del Toro and Carapaz in Friday's race.
Prodhomme said: "I've waited a long time for a win but I won my first race three weeks ago (a stage at the Tour of the Alps) and now to win here, the WorldTour at the Giro d'Italia, I am very, very happy.
"When I followed the first attack, my feeling was not very good. My legs were very bad for the first climb, it is very steep and hard.
"Kilometre after kilometre my legs were better and on the last, I saw the gap was not very big and I needed to take a risk.
"Before today, I'd had two top fives because I didn't take a lot of risks. Today, I wanted to play for the win and it's very nice for me."
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