Giro 2021: Yates conquers Alpe di Mera, Bernal holds on to pink

image: Cor VosSimon Yates strikes early and solos to victory on the steep Alpe di Mera. João Almeida finishes in second and Egan Bernal in third. The Colombian retains the maglia rosa. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 19th stage Giro d’Italia 2021

1. Simon Yates (gbr)
2. João Almeida (por) + 0.11
3. Egan Bernal (col) + 0.28
4. Damiano Caruso (ita) + 0.32
5. Aleksandr Vlasov (rus) s.t.
6. Daniel Martin (irl) + 0.42
7. Daniel Felipe Martínez (col) + 0.49
8. Koen Bouwman (nld) + 1.25
9. Tobias Foss (nor) s.t.
10. Romain Bardet (fra) s.t.

11. Hugh Carthy (gbr) s.t.

GC after stage 19
1. Egan Bernal (col)
2. Damiano Caruso (ita) + 2.29
3. Simon Yates (gbr) + 2.49
4. Aleksandr Vlasov (rus) + 6.11
5. Hugh Carthy (gbr) + 7.10
6. Romain Bardet (fra) + 7.32
7. Daniel Felipe Martínez (col) + 7.42
8. João Almeida (por) + 8.26
9. Tobias Foss (nor) + 10.19
10. Daniel Martin (irl) + 13.55

Race report
Larry Warbasse, Andrea Pasqualon, Quinten Hermans, Mark Christian, Giovanni Aleotti and Nicola Venchiarutti succeed in getting into the breakaway after 40 kilometres of hard racing. After carving out a gap of 4 minutes, the attackers are caught 8 kilometres before the finish.

Almeida attacks with 6.8 kilometres to climb. Yates closes the gap with Bennett, Caruso and Vlasov in his wheel before he forges on alone.

The pink jersey regains contact with the chasers. Only Bernal himself, Martínez, Almeida, Caruso and Vlasov remaining.

Yates easily opens a 30 seconds gap, but it does not widen further. Martínez drops back inside the last 3 kilometres and Bernal accalerates. Only Almeida is able to match this move.

The Portugese heads out alone in the last kilometre, but it’s too late for the stage win. Yates finishes with a 11 seconds lead, while Bernal crosses the line 28 seconds after the Briton. The pink jersey extends his lead a little though, as runner-up Caruso finishes 4 seconds behind him.

Another interesting read: route 19th stage 2021 Giro.