(Reuters) – Simon Yates of Team BikeExchange won stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia on Friday, reducing the gap in the general classification to leader Egan Bernal, who finished third in the penultimate mountain stage to protect his overall advantage.
Yates finished 11 seconds ahead of Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) in the 176-kilometre ride from Abbiategrasso to Alpe di Mera while INEOS Grenadiers’ Bernal was 28 seconds behind to retain the Maglia Rosa.
Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) finished four seconds behind Bernal but retains second place on the general classification ahead of Yates in third.
Yates attacked with about 6.5 kilometres to go and left Almeida and Bernal behind to take victory on the climb, giving him an opportunity to finish second in the general classification over the weekend.
Bernal is 2:29 ahead of Caruso and 2:49 ahead of Yates heading into Saturday’s stage 20, a 163-kilometre ride from Valle Spluga to Alpe Motta.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
