FRANCE’S NANS PETERS of the Ag2r-La Mondiale team crossed the line alone to claim his maiden victory in the Giro d’Italia 17th stage on Wednesday.
Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz of Movistar kept the overall leader’s pink jersey four days from the race finish, extending his lead over Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali.
Peters blew away his rivals at the end of the 181km run through the north of Italy, near the Austrian border.
The 25-year-old pulled clear 16km from the line and had built up an advantage of one minute at the foot of the 5.5km final climb.
Colombian Esteban Chaves finished a distant second at one minute and 30 seconds behind with Italy’s Davide Formolo third at one min and 51 seconds.
Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar finished in 43rd (4:47.44) today and now sits 23rd overall for Team Ineos while Conor Dunne finished 133rd on stage 17 (5:12.02) and is 136th in the general classification for Israel Cycling Academy.
Thursday’s stage offers the remaining sprinters a final chance for a win as the route drops to sea level, with a 222km run through the Venetian hinterlands from Valdaora to Santa Maria di Sala, concluding with a 2km sprint for the line.
The race concludes in Verona on Sunday.
The stage and general classifications can be found here.
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