Latest news with #Jayco-Alula
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Yates snatches Giro title on stunning penultimate stage
Simon Yates' first Grand Tour win came seven years ago at the Vuelta a Espana [Getty Images] British rider Simon Yates produced a stunning performance on the penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia to snatch the pink jersey from Isaac del Toro and effectively ensure his second Grand Tour title. Del Toro came into the 20th and final competitive stage of the race with a 43-second lead over Richard Carapaz, with Yates trailing by one minute and 21 seconds in third. Advertisement Mexico's Del Toro, 21, would have clinched victory in his maiden Giro by successfully negotiating the Colle delle Finestre, the highest point of this year's race and where Yates' hopes of winning evaporated in 2018. But Yates, 32, exorcised those ghosts as he attacked on the brutal ascent to leave Del Toro and Carapaz - the 2019 winner - in his wake. He not only wiped out Del Toro's advantage but was one minute 41 seconds clear of his general classification rivals when he crested. His Visma-Lease A Bike team had pulled off a masterstroke as team-mate Wout van Aert was in the breakaway group and allowed Yates to catch him on the descent, helping him build a comprehensive lead over the final 20km. Advertisement Jayco-Alula's Australian rider Chris Harper, who was the first over the Colle delle Finestre summit, claimed the second Grand Tour stage win of his career, with Yates crossing one minute 57 seconds later, third on the day. Yates was in tears as he hugged team staff at the finish, surrounded by media, with Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates crossing the line five minutes after him. It means the Briton leads Del Toro by three minutes 56 seconds, with Carapaz in third, heading in to Sunday's processional stage in Rome. "I'm not really an emotional person but I couldn't hold back the tears," said Yates. Advertisement "It's something I've worked towards year after year and I've had a lot of setbacks but I've finally managed to pull if off." Yates lost 30 seconds to Del Toro during Friday's stage but recovered to become just the third British rider to win the Giro, after Chris Froome (2018) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (2020). Yates 'always had' redemption in mind Froome memorably snatched the pink jersey on the penultimate mountain stage in 2018, as Yates cracked and ultimately lost more than 38 minutes. This year, the same climb was scheduled for late in the 205km stage from Verres to Sestriere and Yates, who bounced back from the 2018 Giro to win that year's Vuelta a Espana, said after today's stage he "always had it in the back of my mind" once the route was announced. Advertisement The 18.5km climb has an average gradient of 9.2% and started 43km from the finish. Within a kilometre of the climb, Carapaz's EF Education team attacked, but Del Toro was alert to the danger and soon closed the gap to Carapaz, with the rest of the peloton dropping back. Yet Yates then came from nowhere to join his general classification rivals and made a series of attacks before ultimately breaking clear. When Yates hit the gravel section, he extended his lead, while Del Toro and Carapaz continued to trade blows. But by the time they also reached the summit, some 2,178m above sea level - they knew the race was gone. Advertisement "It's incredible, said Van Aert. "It was such a brave effort from Simon to go all in from so far. I love it when people are not racing for a place of honour."
Daily Tribune
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Tribune
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.
The 42
17-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Luke Plapp in great escape as Italy's Ulissi takes Giro lead
AUSTRALIAN LUKE PLAPP broke away on a 50km solo attack to win a hilly stage eight of the Giro d'Italia on Saturday 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. 'It's a dream come true,' said Plapp, who seemed a little lost for words. 'It was a savage fight to get in that breakaway.' You can view the classifications here> Advertisement 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. 'When I was a kid I used to watch the Giro with my grandparents and dreamed about this mythical jersey. So this is hugely satisfying,' the 35-year-old said. Ulissi now leads Roglic by 17sec in the overall classification and will ride out in pink Sunday giving home crowds something to cheer in his home region of Tuscany. It had been 86 stages since an Italian led the race — Alessandro De Marchi was the last to wear pink just over four years ago. There were four categorised climbs between the coastal town of Giulianova, along a rugged 197km route through the Abruzzo region, to the Castelraimondo finish — halfway up the Italian peninsula. When the contenders for the overall Giro win did come into the home straight, Friday's stage winner Juan Ayuso attacked and finished just 1sec ahead of Roglic but once again used up a great deal of energy to do so with 13 long stages remaining. 'There's still a very long way to go,' Roglic said at the line before handing over the pink jersey. Sunday's stage will run over the white gravel roads of the sparkling wine vineyards outside Siena. Sam Bennett and Darren Rafferty are the Irishmen in action. – © AFP 2025
France 24
17-05-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Luke Plapp in great escape as Italy's Ulissi takes Giro 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. "It's a dream come true," said Plapp, who seemed a little lost for words. "It was a savage fight to get in that breakaway. I decided to go solo with 45km to go because I knew I couldn't beat any of them in a sprint," he said modestly. 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. "When I was a kid I used to watch the Giro with my grandparents and dreamed about this mythical jersey. So this is hugely satisfying," the 35-year-old said. Ulissi now leads Roglic by 17sec in the overall classification and will ride out in pink Sunday giving home crowds something to cheer in his home region of Tuscany. It had been 86 stages since an Italian led the race -- Alessandro De Marchi was the last to wear pink just over four years ago. The result was a boost for Ulissi's Astana team, who are in the second-tier Continental Tour. Another Astana man Lorenzo Fortunato has the blue climb points jersey and sits second in the overall, 12sec off compatriot Ulissi. There were four categorised climbs between the coastal town of Giulianova, along a rugged 197km route through the Abruzzo region, to the Castelraimondo finish -- halfway up the Italian peninsula. When the contenders for the overall Giro win did come into the home straight, Friday's stage winner Juan Ayuso attacked and finished just 1sec ahead of Roglic but once again used up a great deal of energy to do so with 13 long stages remaining. "There's still a very long way to go," Roglic said at the line before handing over the pink jersey.
France 24
17-05-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Luke Plapp in great escape as Italy's Ulissi take Giro 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. "It's a dream come true," said Plapp, who seemed a little lost for words. "It was a savage fight to get in that breakaway." 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. "When I was a kid I used to watch the Giro with my grandparents and dreamed about this mythical jersey. So this is hugely satisfying," the 35-year-old said. Ulissi now leads Roglic by 17sec in the overall classification and will ride out in pink Sunday giving home crowds something to cheer in his home region of Tuscany. It had been 86 stages since an Italian led the race -- Alessandro De Marchi was the last to wear pink just over four years ago. There were four categorised climbs between the coastal town of Giulianova, along a rugged 197km route through the Abruzzo region, to the Castelraimondo finish -- halfway up the Italian peninsula. When the contenders for the overall Giro win did come into the home straight, Friday's stage winner Juan Ayuso attacked and finished just 1sec ahead of Roglic but once again used up a great deal of energy to do so with 13 long stages remaining. "There's still a very long way to go," Roglic said at the line before handing over the pink jersey.
