Simon Yates EXPLODES Giro d'Italia at the Colle delle Finestre and takes pink jersey - Heartbreak for Del Toro as Chris Harper wins queen stage

The Giro d'Italia was completely turned on it's head in the very last competitive day. Simon Yates will take the pink jersey into Rome after the biggest possible vengeance at the Colle delle Finestre. Chris Harper won stage 20 whilst the GC fight erupted in an unimaginable way; Richard Carapaz and Isaac del Toro's battle pathed the way for the Team Visma | Lease a Bike to win the overall classification.

The final stage of the race, with over 200 kilometers in distance, started early in the morning and with a strong fight for the breakaway formation. Around 30 riders managed to go up the road to fight for the stage win, as no teams took up the responsibility in the peloton and UAE Team Emirates - XRG had no intention of closing it down and giving rivals the possibility of opening bonifications for it's rivals.

Within this group were riders like Wout Van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Carlos Verona, Pello Bilbao, Ethan Hayter and more. In the peloton EF Education-EasyPost did eventually take up the pace to try and begin creating fatigue in Isaac del Toro, although at a certain point five of the American team's riders almost crashed.

All the action was to happen on the Colle delle Finestre, and it happened immediately. In the peloton EF entered the 19-kilometer climb with a nuclear pace, and within 1 kilometer Carapaz attacked with only Isaac del Toro following. Simon Yates bridged across a few minutes after. The two then began attacking Del Toro by turns several times until Yates went up the road and Carapaz was unable to close the gap. This all happened within the very first kilometers of the climb. In front, Chris Harper and Alessandro Verre stood out from the rest, but the Italian - despite putting on an impressive ride - cracked once they entered the gravel section.

Behind however the pace kept going up and down as countless times Carapaz attacked Del Toro, sprinting all-out at some points, and with a more sustainable pace in others. They also followed a strong Derek Gee at times. With around 3 kilometers to the summit Carapaz began pacing once again, with Del Toro occasionally yet rarely collaborating, but at the summit the difference to Yates was an incredible 1:40 minutes.

Yates was very disappointed with the outcome of stage 19, yet this time around Visma pulled off a tactical masterclass, as Van Aert withstood the brutal climb still ahead of the GC riders and then began pacing for Yates, whilst Del Toro and Carapaz bumped heads and completely stopped after the climbing, accepting defeat against the Briton.

With 7 kilometers to go Carapaz and Del Toro, alongside Gee, were caught by the rest of the GC group. The defeat was evident, and Yates gained a gap of over five minutes in the lead-up to Sestriere and the slopes of the final climb itself, to go on and conquer the Giro d'italia for the first time in his career. Chris Harper rode to the stage win, the biggest highlight of the Team Jayco AlUla rider's career as well.

Overall classification standings will follow.