Giro d'Italia: Ayuso pounces for first Grand Tour stage as Roglic takes pink
Primoz Roglic pulled on the pink jersey after stage seven of the Giro d'Italia but Juan Ayuso underlined his credentials as his main challenger by snatching victory in Tagliacozzo.
Ayuso (UAE-Team Emirates) had the power to break clear from a select group of favourites in the final few hundred metres of the 12km climb to the finish. His teammate, Mexican rider Isaac Del Toro, came second. The 2021 Giro winner, Egan Bernal (Ineos), took a hugely encouraging third place after an attacking ride three years on from a career-threatening crash.
Roglic was initially missing when Ayuso made his move but recovered to cross the line fourth on the stage, enough to take pink by four seconds from the Spaniard at the end of the first major general classification test – with Mads Pedersen surrendering the lead as expected.
The 22-year-old Briton Max Poole (Picnic-PostNL) was ninth on the stage to move up to fifth overall, 30 seconds down, while Simon Yates sits ninth at 39 seconds. His brother Adam, carrying injuries from a crash on Thursday, lost a handful of seconds but remains within a minute of pink, while Tom Pidcock lost ground near the finish and is now 70 seconds from Roglic overall.
Another British rider, Paul Double, was part of a seven-strong breakaway on the 168km stage from Castel di Sangro. Double was the virtual leader on the road for much of the day as the group built a lead of more than three minutes, but they were reeled in before the steepest part of the final climb.
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