Close but no cigar for Richard Carapaz at Giro d'Italia

Richard Carapaz was the man to beat at this Giro d'Italia, having had a consistent race from day one, a strong team and the climbing prowess to win a second Grand Tour. It all looked good and consolidated, but that was up until the final kilometers of the Passo Fedaia...

There, INEOS Grenadiers took control of the peloton, wanting to set a harder pace for Carapaz to attack. The tactics have however backfired, as Jai Hindley quickly launched a counter-offensive, and a pace that became too complicated for Carapaz to follow in the final kilometers.

The Ecuadorian went over the red, and when he couldn't hold the pace of the Australian, his pink jersey started to slip between his fingers and there was nothing left to do besides limiting the losses. With Mikel Landa and Hugh Carthy bridging across and then dropping Carapaz, it became clear that the Giro win was no longer possible as the gap grew exponentially.

On the line, Carapaz shed 1:28 minutes to Jai Hindley. It was a bad day to have a modest performance, with no opportunity to take that time back. Carapaz will likely finish the Giro d'Italia, still having a buffer over Mikel Landa who shouldn't be too fond of tomorrow's time-trial - however that second place won't be much of a consolation prize after he was so close to the win.