Giro d'Italia Stage 20 recap - Simon Yates on cusp of Giro glory Colle delle Finestre masterclass downs Del Toro; Chris Harper wins in Sestriere

Seven years after he lost the pink jersey in dramatic fashion after cracking on the Colle delle Finestre, Britain’s Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) rode to Giro d’Italia glory after capping a sensational turnaround on that very same climb.

A series of stinging attacks at the start of the legendary gravel-capped peak in the Alps saw Yates distance the pink jersey Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) before soaring to a two-minute lead going over the summit.

Yates then latched onto the back wheel of team-mate Wout van Aert – dropping back from the day’s breakaway – for the valley road towards the final slog up to the ski resort of Sestiere. The Visma-Lease a Bike duo combined to devastating effect to stretch the lead and force a disconsolate Del Toro and Carapaz to throw in the towel behind.

Trailing Mexico’s Del Toro by 1:21 going into Saturday’s decisive stage, Yates ended up putting over five minutes into his GC rivals to all but win the 108th edition of the Giro on the eve of the race’s finale in Rome.

Yates’s barnstorming heroics ensured that the victory of Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla) was somewhat overlooked, the Australian soloing from the breakaway to a maiden Grand Tour stage win in spectacular style. With Yates closing in, Italy’s Alessandro Verre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) held on for a gutsy second place in Sestriere before the new race leader came home, clasping his head in disbelief.

Never before has a third place made such ripples as Yates buried his demons from 2018 – when he imploded on the Finestre to concede the pink jersey to Chris Froome after the Team Sky rider’s epic comeback.

Seven years on, an older, wiser Yates danced up the Colle delle Finestre to cap an extraordinary turnaround of his own, making light work of the gravel sections near the summit and completing the ascent in a time that was a whopping five minutes quicker than Froome’s now legendary exploit from 2018.

Adam Blythe spoke to an emotional Simon Yates after his staggering ride into pink today…

On having Wout van Aert up the road in the break: "We’ve always had guys up the road almost every day in case there’s a situation like that. Today was one of those days and it was a very crucial moment, actually."

On the penny dropping that he had won the Giro: "To be honest, [it wasn’t until] 200 metres to go [that I realised what I had done]. I was on the radio, blabbing for the time gap, because I never truly believed until the very last moment. I’m a bit speechless really. I think it’s still sinking in. I’d say I’m not really an emotional person but even coming over the finish there I was really – I couldn’t hold back the tears. I’ve realised something that I’ve worked towards throughout my career, for year after year – a lot of setbacks. Yeah, I finally managed to pull it off."

And what a turnaround for Simon Yates, who entered the stage in third place at 1:21 and will win the Giro tomorrow by almost four minutes…

1. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike)
2. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +3:56
3. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +4:43
4. Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) +6:23
5. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) +7:32
6. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +9:28
7. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +12:42
8. Einer Rubio (Movistar) +13:05
9. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +13:36
10. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) +14:27

British duo Max Poole and Adam Yates in 11th and 12th but well down on the top 10.

A bittersweet moment today for Adam Yates, whose team (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) lost the Giro but whose family won it…

"It's just incredible," Wout van Aert said, choking back the tears. "I think we didn’t really doubt about this, this morning. Such a brave effort of Simon to go all in from so far. I love it when people are not racing for a place of honour, so chapeau to him. Once I was in this breakaway and we had such an advantage, I know that I had a small chance to make it over the Finestre. Of course I’m happy that I was valuable but it’s an effort from the whole team."

1. Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla)
2. Alessandro Verre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +1:49
3. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1:57
4. Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step) +3:52
5. Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ) +3:57
6. Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane) +4:31
7. Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek) +4:31
8. Max Poole (Picnic PostNL) +6:45
9. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +7:10
10. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +7:10

Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) took 11th ahead of Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).

The Mexican matador puts on a show to win the sprint as the chase group comes home a whopping 7’10" down on Chris Harper – that’s over five minutes down on Simon Yates, who has taken the maglia rosa from Isaac del Toro’s back.

Alessandro Verre holds on for second place ahead of a Simon Yates in disbelief – talk about redemption. He has his head in his hands as he realises what he’s just done: seven years after losing the Giro he goes and wins it on the same climb. "Simon Yates has just written one of the most glorious chapters in the modern history of pro cycling," says Rob Hatch. He’s in tears – and can you be surprised? Simon Yates finally has a Giro title to add to his Vuelta a Espana crown from 2018.

The British rider won't quite catch Alessandro Verra and will take third place after a day of destiny on the Giro.

What a win for the Australian, who attacked with 40km remaining and soloed to glory over the Colle delle Finestre and up to Sestriere. It’s a maiden Grand Tour stage win for Harper – and a second for Jayco-AlUla (after Luke Plapp) and a third for Australia (after Plapp and Kaden Groves) on this Giro.

Brandon McNulty and Rafal Majka set the tempo in the pink jersey group comprising top 10 riders and the remnants of the day’s break. But they’re almost six minutes behind the man who will win this Giro, who is now closing in on Alessandro Verre.

They made a hash of things today with Del Toro isolated early on the Colle delle Finestre and then the Mexican bluffing and playing mind games with Richard Carapaz, rather than working to reduce the arrears. Del Toro is admittedly not their top choice as leader for this Giro – Plans A & B Ayuso and Adam Yates fell through – but the team can still not win a Grand Tour with a rider not called Tadej Pogacar.

You must feel for Chris Harper – never has a stage-winning ride gleaned so little attention from the TV cameras. The Australian passes under the 5km banner with a decent lead over Verre, who could yet be caught by Yates…

The Belgian peels off and slingshots his Visma leader Simon Yates towards Giro glory as the road starts to ramp up a little towards the ski resort of Sestriere. He’s only 3’30" behind lone leader Chris Harper now, with Alessandro Verre at 1’45". It should finish like that as the one, two, three. The best third place you’ll see all season.

It’s hard to tell – it could be a bit of both, because he’s burying himself but they both must know that Simon Yates has won this Giro. They’re over four minutes ahead now.

The pink jersey now has Rafal Majka with him, plus another eight or nine riders in a large chase group. But it’s too little, too late. The Visma duo have extended the lead to over four minutes now.

"There's bluffing and there's throwing away," says Robbie McEwen, who says UAE and Del Toro made a big mistake not to really go for it rather than resort to mind games behind.

The Visma duo have caught the chasers so there are only two more riders up the road – Harper and Verre. So Yates could take the remaining bonus seconds for third place in Sestriere – not that he needs them: they have over three minutes now that Del Toro and Carapaz have thrown in the towel.

Is that the moment the Mexican conceded the Giro d’Italia? He’s on the radio and it looks like he’s sitting up. That’s because he’s now 2’37" behind Simon Yates, who has Wout van Aert pacing him towards glory in Sestriere. He pleads with Carapaz, but the Ecuadorian refuses to work – and that is that.

We’re hearing that Simon Yates rode the Colle delle Finestre five minutes quicker than Chris Froome did in 2018, the day the latter prised the pink jersey from the former’s back in such barnstorming fashion. Wow…

Yates is currently 46 seconds ahead in the virtual standings.

The ‘new girlfriend bounce’ of teaming up with Wout van Aert – coupled with the mind games being played behind – sees Yates’ advantage grow back to 2’05". He’s currently riding into the pink jersey and to Giro glory.

Here was the moment Simon Yates laid the foundations for this barnstorming ride: