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Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) claimed a breakaway victory on stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia, as Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) snatched three seconds back from race leader Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) at Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
Buitrago was part of a 15-man breakaway that formed after a breathless start to a high-altitude Dolomite affair that was billed as the queen stage but was subdued from a pink jersey perspective until the steep final ramps of the finishing climb.
The Colombian used those double-digit gradients to ride across to and drop the irrepressible Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech), who was forced to swallow his fourth second-place of this Giro. Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) clung on for third place from the break, taking bonus seconds out of the GC equation as Roglič and Thomas fought for the line in his shadow.
The top two traded blows in the final couple of kilometres, once again distinguishing themselves from third-placed João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), who conceded another 20 seconds.
How it unfolded
Stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia featured a huge dose of high-altitude climbing, but there was no inclination to save energy in…
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