"Now we will try to defend the Maglia Rosa" - Richard Carapaz

INEOS Grenadiers have until today rode in a controlling way in the Giro d'Italia, with their sights on getting the pink jersey and racing from the front. Today, after a brutal stage in Torino, they have gotten what they've wanted as Richard Carapaz jumped into the race lead.

“It was a tough stage but a very short one. I’m happy with how it went. It’s a positive step for the team and now we will try to defend the Maglia Rosa," Carapaz said after the stage. He started the day in second place behind Juan Pedro López, the Spaniard held on extremely well until the second time up Superga where he cracked in the final meters of the climb, eventually arriving at the finish 4:25 minutes after stage winner Simon Yates.

Carapaz was a leading figure when it came to today's attacks, and he is now in a position where INEOS can afford to just follow wheels and cover the attacks of the rivals - Jai Hindley and BORA - hansgrohe the most likely ones to stir up the race.

"I didn’t remember that three years ago I took it on stage 14 but I’m happy to have done it again," Carapaz said. In 2019 he never again lost the pink jersey after grabbing it in Courmayeur. Tomorrow he will ride through the same roads of the Valle d'Aosta which hold good memories for the Ecuadorian, and he'll be hoping to mimic the result he's achieved in the past.