Geraint Thomas leaks three seconds to Primoz Roglic on Stage 19, Santiago Buitrago wins at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

On a day Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) won the queen stage in the Dolomites and the superb Derek Gee (Israel-PremierTech) finished second for the fourth time in this Giro, Primoz Roglic’s last-ditch attack on the iconic climb of Tre Cima di Lavaredo saw him claw back three seconds on race leader Geraint Thomas to set up a thrilling showdown on Saturday.

Welsh veteran Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) will enter the 18.6km decisive uphill time trial on Monte Lussari with an advantage of 26 seconds on Slovenia’s Roglic (Jumbo Visma) in a winner-takes-all scenario in the 106th edition of the Giro.

The third man on the podium – Portugal’s Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) – found himself distanced on the fifth and final climb of the 187km stage in the Dolomites. The race’s best young rider now finds himself 59 seconds behind Thomas ahead of a race against the clock on a climb boasting steeper gradients than Monte Zoncolan.

The fight for pink took place behind the battle for the stage spoils as Colombia’s Buitrago reeled in Canadian debutant Gee with one and a half kilometres to go on the steepest 18% section of the final climb. Buitrago and Gee were the cream of a 15-man breakaway that animated the stage and held a maximum lead of eight minutes over the pack.

Gee’s initial attack at the foot of Tre Cime di Lavaredo looked like it could bring the 25-year-old revelation a maiden win after a string of second places – but in the end Gee had to settle for a fourth second place on a day he also secured second place in both the blue and ciclamino jersey standings.

Denmark’s Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) was the last remaining rider of the breakaway not to be caught, the Stage 10 winner just holding on for third place and denying Roglic four more bonus seconds on the line.

Roglic – who changed his bike to a special gravel groupset steed at the foot of the final climb – took fourth place ahead of Thomas, with Almeida leading home Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) and Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) for seventh place 20 seconds behind.

More to follow.

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