Australian Jai Hindley has moved closer to claiming the Pink Jersey at the Giro d’italia with a second-place finish as Simon Yates claimed stage 14 honours in Turin.
Yates made a breakaway with 4.5 kilometres to go on the 147-kilometre stage from Santena to Turin and could not be caught as he collected his second stage win of this year’s race.
Bora-Hansgrohe rider Hindley delivered an inspired performance to claim second on the stage fighting back late to catch Richard Carapaz who had made a move on the Superga climb.
Hindley pipped new leader Richard Carapaz, with Vincenzo Nibali fourth, as the chasing trio sprinted for second place.
Despite a third-place finish for Carapaz, the 2019 Giro winner is back in the pink of the Maglia Rosa after moving to the top of the general classification.
Hindley’s second place moved him into second spot on the GC only seven seconds behind Carapaz, as previous race leader Juanpe Lopez fell behind after he cracked on the penultimate climb of the stage.
Ecuador's Carapaz, who won the 2019 Giro, attacked on the Superga climb, a 5-km ascent at 8.6%, and Lopez lost touch to finish four minutes and 25 seconds off the pace.
Carapaz was however caught by Hindley, Nibali and Yates on the ascent to the Colle della Maddalena and he lacked a bit of juice for the final sprint.
Hindley's Bora-Hansgrohe team blew up the race with 80km to go and the rider said: "We came in with a plan to try and isolate the other GC guys and the team were phenomenal today, ridiculously good.
"I'm disappointed to not take the win but the guys showed we're not here to play around. I can't thank the team enough, they put it on the line for me.
“It was a tough day out. I knew it would be all in on the last five kilometres. I was just waiting and waiting, then Nibali went and I followed.
"It was a crazy day, like a one-day race."
Australian Lucas Hamilton came 13th, eight minutes behind, and is now 14th overall, 11.28 off the lead.
Tom Dumoulin, the 2017 winner, abandoned early on the stage as he was suffering from back problems.
Sunday's 15th stage is a brutal 177-km mountain trek from Rivarolo Cavanese to Cogne in the Aosta valley.
The Giro d'Italia continues on SBS with Stage 13, with some hard climbing until the mid-point of the stage, with a relatively plateau-like run to the finish from there. Watch from 9.10pm AEST on SBS On Demand, with the SBS broadcast starting from 11pm. WA viewers can watch from 9pm AWST on SBS VICELAND.
