Egan Bernal continues to fight on the Giro d’Italia GC after a mountainous stage 17.
Bernal finished 12th in the chasing bunch after a tough 155km in the mountains, retaining sixth on the GC with four stages remaining.
Breaks littered the early part of the race, with Thymen Arensman and Kim Heiduk both making breaks in the opening of the stage, before being reeled back in.
As the riders hit the Passo del Mortirolo, Jonathan Castroviejo and Lucas Hamilton worked on the front of the peloton for Bernal. As the pace ramped up, riders were all over the climb, with an earlier break three minutes up the road.
Bernal continued to chase with the maglia rosa Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates - XRG) and Simon Yates (Team Visma Lease A Bike), before being distanced near the top of the climb. The Colombian continued to show his determination and caught back on during the descent, joining the main chasing group and picking up other breaks to form the front of the peloton.
Heading up Le Motte, a stinging attack from Romain Bardet (Team Picnic PostNL) saw Bernal unable to hold onto the group. As Bardet went clear, and was eventually caught by stage winner Del Toro and Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost), Bernal finished a minute and 10 seconds back in 12th place.
Reaction
Egan Bernal:
"We tried our luck once again, but our rivals are quite strong. The most important thing is there is a lot of Giro left. We all want to win, and feel competitive. In any case, I like this job and I’m being able to enjoy riding my bike and do my best effort every day. That’s what I did today, and what I want to do moving forward.
"I am glad for Isaac del Toro. I think he is a good chap and he deserves the win today."