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Vingegaard on verge of Giro glory after powering to penultimate stage / Photo: © AFP
Vingegaard on verge of Giro glory after powering to penultimate stage
Jonas Vingegaard is set to win the Giro d'Italia after showcasing his power in the mountains to win Saturday's penultimate stage and set up the first victory in what he hopes will be a Grand Tour double.
The pre-race favourite, Vingegaard took control of the Giro last weekend and barring disaster on Sunday will also become just the eighth man to complete the triple crown of road cycling's three-week showpieces.
A gentle ride around Rome is all that stands in in the way of Vingegaard's first Giro victory and him joining the likes of Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Vincenzo Nibali in winning all three Grand Tours.
Vingegaard increased his lead over closest rival Felix Gall, who tried and failed to stay with the Dane following his late attack on the climatic Piancavallo climb and will head to the Eternal City over five minutes behind in the general classification.
The Visma–Lease a Bike rider is bidding for a Giro-Tour de France double this year, and the two-time Tour winner has had too much for a field which did not feature his big rival Tadej Pogacar.
Superstar Pogacar will be at this year's Tour and the battle between the pair is expected to be fierce on the "Grande Boucle", road cycling's most prestigious event.
Vingegaard has shown why he is the biggest threat to Pogacar on the Grand Tours, winning five stages and coming out on top in the Giro even though he was sick during the opening week.
The 29-year-old was at the front of the peloton when it reached the first of two punishing 14.5-kilometre climbs to Piancavallo, trying to chase down a breakaway which was over four minutes up the road.
That gap was down to little more than two minutes at the start of the second ascent, and Vingegaard made his move just over 10km from the finish.
He easily pulled away first from the main group and then from the chasing Gall before surging past what was left of the break and on to victory.
Giulio Ciccone will top the Mountains classification at the end of the Giro, the Italian finishing the stage assured of the blue jersey ahead of Vingegaard.
It is the third Grand Tour Mountains win of Ciccone's career after the 2019 Giro and claiming the polka-dot jersey at the Tour three years ago.
K. Berger--BTZ
