IRELAND’S DAN MARTIN has won the 17th stage of the Giro D’Italia.
The stage took in a 193km journey from Canazei to a summit finish in Sega di Ala and included one of the most difficult climbs of the race, a 11.2km final stretch with a 9.8% average gradient.
The Team Israel Start-Up Nation rider led for much of the stage and pulled away from the breakaway group to take a commanding lead, and while Portugal’s Joao Almeida and Britain’s Simon Yates managed to close the gap, Martin was able to hold out to take the stage.
Martin finished with a time of 4h:54:38, with Almeida 13 seconds behind and Yates coming in third at 30″.
It is the first time Martin has won a stage of the race, meaning he has now won stages in the Giro D’Italia, Tour de France and the Vuelta e Espana.
Martin won stage six of the 2018 Tour de France and stage three of the Vuela last October, completing his hat-trick of Grand Tour stage victories with today’s win.
Colombia’s Egan Bernal retains the overall leader’s pink jersey. The Ineos rider lost time in the final climb but stays in the lead with the race finishing in Milan in four days.
Thursday’s 18th stage between Rovereto and Stradella is a mostly flat 231km ride.
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