Giro d’Italia: Carapaz holds firm as Bouwman wins after final-corner drama

Richard Carapaz held on to the pink jersey as Koen Bouwman won stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia, a mountainous 178km ride from Marano Lagunare to Santuario di Castelmonte, in bizarre fashion on Friday.

Carapaz held a three-second lead over Jai Hindley in the general classification going into Friday’s stage, and was joined by three Ineos Grenadiers teammates in a packed peloton right up until the final few kilometres.

Third in the GC before a stage that passed through parts of Slovenia and needing to close the gap, Mikel Landa made the first move as the top three riders were left alone as the leaders’ group approached the end of the stage. Carapaz led Hindley and Landa in that order to the final sprint, with the Ecuadorian coming home in front of his rivals at the crucial moment to keep the maglia rosa, with only one more mountain stage to come on Saturday, before Sunday’s time-trial finale.

There had already been plenty of drama further ahead of the overall leaders, as a bizarre finale for the five riders vying to win the stage saw three of them overshoot the final corner – after Bouwman had arrowed towards the inside line – allowing the Dutchman to come through with ease for his second stage victory of this year’s Giro.

“I knew there was a corner to the left but I didn’t know it was this sharp,” Bouwman said. “I had to brake quite hard and I knew I had to take the inside [of the corner]. Now, to win two stages in the Giro, I’m just so happy I don’t have words.”

There was some bad news for Carapaz on Friday, however, as teammate Richie Porte dropped out of the race through illness, leaving the leader missing a key domestique for the final two stages this weekend. The 20th stage is a 167km ride from Belluno to Marmolada on