Sepp Kuss conquers Giro's queen stage in Dolomites as Vingegaard tightens grip on pink jersey
American Sepp Kuss soloed to victory on the Giro d'Italia's 19th stage, while his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Jonas Vingegaard calmly defended his overall lead with two days remaining.
Kuss completes Grand Tour set
Sepp Kuss delivered a masterclass in the Dolomites, winning the 19th stage of the Giro d'Italia from Feltre to Piani di Pezzè. The American from Visma-Lease a Bike attacked from the day's breakaway, catching and passing Italian Giulio Ciccone with just over two kilometers to go. Kuss crossed the line 19 seconds ahead of Canada's Derek Gee, with Ciccone holding on for third. The victory makes the 31-year-old the 116th rider in history to win a stage in all three Grand Tours.
Jonas told me to follow Ciccone, and I went with the flow. My mother was there, 500 meters from the finish. I still can't believe it, it was beautiful. Thanks to my parents, I am the person I am today.
Vingegaard maintains iron grip
Overall leader Jonas Vingegaard finished the stage safely in fifth place, arriving 40 seconds after his teammate alongside his closest rival, Austrian Felix Gall. The Danish star, who has already won the Tour de France twice and the Vuelta a España, now looks almost certain to add a first Giro d'Italia title to his palmarès. His lead over Gall remains a comfortable 4 minutes and 3 seconds.
Podium shake-up
Behind the untouchable Vingegaard, the battle for the podium saw a significant shift. Australian Jai Hindley of Red Bull-Bora attacked in the final kilometers of the ascent to Alleghe, dropping Thymen Arensman. The Dutchman from Netcompany INEOS lost over a minute on his rivals, surrendering third place overall to Hindley. The new general classification shows Vingegaard leading by 4:03 over Gall, with Hindley now third at 5:04.
- An eight-man breakaway forms including Ciccone, Pellizzari, Caruso, Gee, and Storer.
- Ciccone leads over Passo Duran and Passo Giau to secure the Cima Coppi and provisional mountains lead.
- Ciccone attacks on the descent of Passo Falzarego, going solo.
- Kuss catches and drops Ciccone with 2.2 km to go, soloing to victory.
- Hindley drops Arensman in the final kilometers, moving into third overall.
Ciccone claims mountains jersey
Giulio Ciccone was the day's most aggressive rider, animating the breakaway and sweeping up maximum points on four of the day's six categorized climbs. The Lidl-Trek rider conquered the Passo Duran and the legendary Passo Giau, the Cima Coppi of this year's race at 2,233 meters. His efforts earned him the blue jersey as leader of the mountains classification, dethroning Vingegaard. Ciccone now holds a 57-point advantage, with 99 points still available on the final mountain stage.
Other classifications and abandonments
The queen stage also impacted the youth classification, where Italian Davide Piganzoli halved his deficit to Portuguese rider Afonso Eulálio. The race saw a significant abandonment as Ecuadorian Jhonatan Narváez, a stage winner earlier in the race, withdrew. His exit all but guarantees Frenchman Paul Magnier the cyclamen jersey for the points classification. The Giro d'Italia concludes on Sunday in Rome.
