Yates snatches pink jersey from Del Toro on penultimate Giro stage

Simon Yates rode a stage for the ages when he stormed into the overall lead of the Giro d'Italia on Saturday as the Visma-Lease a Bike rider erased Isaac Del Toro's lead to take the pink jersey on the penultimate stage.

The stage was won by Australian Chris Harper of Jayco-AlUla, who was part of a 31-rider breakaway before he rode solo to the finish to claim a first Grand Tour stage win with Alessandro Verre was second, nearly two minutes behind.

All eyes were on Yates, however, as he finished third to flip the general classification battle on a climb where he had once endured one of the worst days of his career at the 2018 Giro.

Having started the day more than a minute behind Del Toro, Yates now holds a commanding lead of three minutes and 56 seconds with Richard Carapaz a further 47 seconds behind.

Yates will wear the pink jersey in what should be a procession to the winning line in Sunday's final flat stage in Rome.

"I was on the radio blabbing asking for the time gap because I never truly believed until the very last moment really. I'm a bit speechless," Yates said.

"It's still sinking in. I'm not really an emotional person but even coming over the finish line I couldn't hold back the tears.

"It's something I've worked towards throughout my career, year after year and I've had a lot of setbacks. I've finally managed to pull it off."

On the 205 km ride from Verres to Sestriere where riders gained 4,500 metres in altitude, it was Carapaz or Yates who had to make a move if they were to take the pink jersey from Del Toro.

The stage is famous for its Colle delle Finestre climb, one of the hardest climbs on the continent which is 18 km long, of which the final eight kilometres are in the gravel before they approach the ski resort