Britainâs Simon Yates soloed to a third victory within a week on the 15th stage of the Giro dâItalia on Sunday to extend his overall lead as the race heads into the final stretch.
But Tour de France champion Chris Froome, who won on Saturdayâs Monte Zoncolan summit finish, lost more time on the 176km Dolomites stage from Tolmezzo to Sappada, slipping to seventh overall and nearly five minutes behind his countryman.
Mitchelton-Scottâs Yates launched his attack 17km from the finish line on the penultimate climb and held on to add to his previous victories on the ninth stage at Gran Sasso and 11th at Osimo.
He crossed the line 41 seconds ahead of a group led by Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez of the Astana Pro Team, with Team Sunwebâs Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands in third.
âMy attack was a little bit on instinct,â explained Yates. âI saw a little gap. I gave everything the second time to get away. Itâs fantastic.â
Defending champion Dumoulin is second overall but drops to 2min 11sec behind Yates going into the final week with the race finishing in Rome next Sunday.
Mondayâs final rest day will be followed by a time-trial at Rovereto on Tuesday where Dutchman Dumoulin is expected to gain time.
âI feel emotional after today. Iâve been fighting since Israel to build a good lead,â said Yates.
âIâm happy with the gap I have now but itâs far from over. It could vanish in 35 kilometres.â
Italyâs Domenico Pozzovivo finished fourth and is third overall, 2min 28sec behind Yates, with Franceâs Thibaut Pinot of Groupama fourth overall at 2min 37sec.
Four-time Tour de France winner Froome struggled on the fourth and final climb in the Dolomites losing a minute and a half to spoil his 33rd birthday celebrations.
Froome, helped by teammate Wout Poels who had already proved so valuable on Monte Zoncolan, tried to claw back time on the overall leaders but was unable to match the change of the pace on the ascent to Costalissoio.
The reigning Vuelta a Espana champion dropped from fifth to seventh overall and is now 4min 52sec behind 25-year-old âKing of the Mountainsâ Yates.
But will Yatesâ advantage be enough in Tuesdayâs time trial? âI really donât know,â he said.
Franceâs Pinot believes the Englishman has done the essential though.
âYates is untouchable unless he has a major failure,â said Pinot.
âIt was better than yesterday at the Zoncolan,â he added. âThere are days like this ⌠Today, the slopes corresponded more to me.â
But Pinot lamented a damaging battle between Lopez and Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz for the best young riderâs white jersey.
âThere was the squabble between Carapaz and Lopez for the white jersey, they were eye-balling each other, they condemned our little group a little,â said Pinot, who is fourth overall just behind Pozzovivo.
âMaybe we could have caught up with Yates and especially taken time on the others,â added the Frenchman.