Dutch rider Koen Bouwman won a mountainous stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia with a sprint finish climb to Santuario di Castelmonte on Friday. Ecuador’s 2019 Giro winner Richard Carapaz of Ineos held onto the overall leader’s pink jersey two days before the race finishes in Verona, maintaining a three-second advantage on Australian Jai Hindley. Bouwman beat his four breakaway companions in a bumpy finale for his second stage after Potenza in southern Italy two weeks ago. Quick Step’s Mauro Schmid of Switzerland was just behind with Italian Alessandro Tonelli of Bardiani three seconds off the pace.

Carapaz survived the setback of losing his key mountain lieutenant Richie Porte early in the 110 mile stage which included three climbs and crossed into neighboring Slovenia. Ineos Grenadiers rider Porte was dropped from the peloton on the first climb of the day, the third-category Villanova Grotte, after 43 miles of racing. Organizers confirmed the 37-year-old Australian had dropped out of the Giro, which finishes in Verona on Sunday. A 12-man breakaway approached the main climb of the day, the Kolovrat over 6 miles long and with a 9.2 percent gradient, with more than nine minutes on the peloton. The four survivors only lost a little over a minute on this climb near Caporetto, the site of an historic defeat for the Italians in the First World War.

Saturday’s 20th stage, the final summit finish, includes three great climbs of the Dolomites, the San Pellegrino, the Pordoi for the highest point of this year’s race at 7300 feet above sea level concluding at the Fedaia, with a
spectacular steep climb in the last 3 miles. Sunday’s final stage is a 10.8 mile individual time-trial into Verona where Ecuadorian Carapaz claimed overall victory three years ago.

GIRO D’ITALIA 2022 STAGE 19 RESULTS

1	Koen BOUWMAN	Jumbo-Visma	4:32:55
2	Mauro SCHMID	Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team	0:00
3	Alessandro TONELLI	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	0:03
4	Attila VALTER	Groupama – FDJ	0:06
5	Andrea VENDRAME	AG2R Citroën Team	0:10
6	Tobias BAYER	Alpecin-Fenix	2:45
7	Guillaume MARTIN	Cofidis	3:49
8	Richard CARAPAZ	INEOS Grenadiers	3:56
9	Jai HINDLEY	BORA – hansgrohe	3:56
10	Mikel LANDA	Bahrain – Victorious	3:56

GIRO D’ITALIA 2022 STANDINGS

1	Richard CARAPAZ	INEOS Grenadiers	81:18:12
2	Jai HINDLEY	BORA – hansgrohe	0:03
3	Mikel LANDA	Bahrain – Victorious	1:05
4	Vincenzo NIBALI	Astana Qazaqstan Team	5:53
5	Pello BILBAO	Bahrain – Victorious	6:22
6	Jan HIRT	Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux	7:15
7	Emanuel BUCHMANN	BORA – hansgrohe	8:21
8	Domenico POZZOVIVO	Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux	12:55
9	Juan LÓPEZ	Trek – Segafredo	15:29
10	Hugh CARTHY	EF Education-EasyPost	17:10

 

RBA/AFP Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency