Professional cyclist Richard Carapaz defended his wafer-thin lead on the second difficult mountain stage of the final week of the 105th Giro d'Italia.
The 28-year-old from Ecuador finished the 17th stage in fifth place and is still three seconds ahead of the Australian Jai Hindley from the German team Bora-hansgrohe in the overall standings. The Colombian Santiago Buitrago won the 168-kilometre stage with over 3,500 metres of climbing in Lavarone.
"Many riders are tired after yesterday. I was also very tired. The last climb was very hard. Everyone at the front is on the same level. Large gaps were not possible today," said Hindley.
German hope Emanuel Buchmann didn't have a good day after his weakness on Tuesday. In the difficult finale, with 1,800 metres of climbing over the last 45 kilometres, the 29-year-old was unable to keep up with the best riders and lost over two minutes to Carapaz. Buchmann is still eighth in the overall classification, 7:13 minutes behind Carapaz.
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