Ayuso wins on Giro mountain, Roglic takes overall lead
This 160km run was the first skirmish between the main title pretenders and lived up to its billing as a battle royale played out in the final 3km of a 12km climb at around a 10 percent incline.
Isaac Del Torro of UAE was second and Egan Bernal of Ineos third at just 4sec, while overnight leader Mads Pedersen pushed his time in pink as far as it could go until wilting on the final climb.
Slovenian Red Bull rider Primoz Roglic was fourth on the day and the pre-race favourite now leads the Giro ahead of Ayuso, who rode away from the climb clique 400m from the line.
Colombian Bernal appeared to follow but then held back, and fellow South American and former Giro winner Richard Carapaz was also in the mix at 4sec in eighth.
Italians Giulio Ciccone and Antonio Tiberi were fifth and sixth on the mountaintop finish as home hopes fly high on this edition of the race, littered with mountains over the next 14 stages.
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