Shock as Jai Hindley powers into race lead on Queen Stage

Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates) won the Dolomites “Queen Stage” of the Giro d’Italia with a 50km solo attack on Saturday, holding off Domen Novak (Bahrain-Victorious) from the breakaway as race leader Carapaz cracks

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) crossed the line third plcae, Behind, the GC was cracked wide open on the super steep slopes of the Marmolada summit finish.

Ineos Grenadiers seized control and started to turn the screw on the GC challengers. Hindley and Landa were able to follow as Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) drained his final energy reserves for his team-mate Carapaz.

When Sivakov peeled off, Hindley attacked. The Australian joined forces with Kämna, who had dropped back from the breakaway, and the duo set an infernal tempo, riding Carapaz off their wheel.

Having started the day just three seconds in arrears, Hindley kicked into the climb and forced a 25-second gap to the race leader.

Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) continued to surge clear from Carapaz in the final three kilometers of the extreme slope to seize control of the race ahead of the Verona TT.

Carapaz finished nearly 90 seconds down on Hindley.

Hindley said after ripping the Maglia Rosa off Carapaz's back, “I knew this was going to be the crucial stage of the race, it was a brutal finish. If you had the legs you could make the difference. We stayed patient and we saved our matches until today. It was perfect. We had Lenny in the breakaway and he couldn’t have timed it better to drop back and give me a boost up the road. When I heard that Carapaz was dropping the wheel, I went all out. It was an epic stage.”

Hindley will take an advantage of 1 minute and 25 seconds into Sunday’s final stage, a 17.4km race against the clock round the streets of Verona.

VIDEO: 2022 Giro d'Italia Stage 20 Highlights

2022 Giro d'Italia Stage 20

1. Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, in 4-46-34
2. Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Victorious, at 34s
3. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, at 37s
4. Antonio Pedrero (Esp) Movistar, at 1-36
5. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-50
6. Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 2-30
7. Gijs Leemreize (Ned) Jumbo-Visma, at 3-04
8. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost, at 3-19
9. Mikel Landa (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, s.t.
10. Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 3-39

2022 Giro d'Italia GC after Stage 20

1. Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 86-07-19
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-25
3. Mikel Landa (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, at 1-51
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team, at 7-57
5. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, at 8-55
6. Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, at 9-07
7. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe, at 11-18
8. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, at 16-04
9. Juan Pedro López (Spa) Trek-Segafredo, at 17-29
10. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost, at 17-56