Pogacar extends Giro lead with stunning solo win

Tadej PogacarImage source, Getty Images
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Tadej Pogacar put his rivals to the sword on stage 15 to extend his overall lead to nearly seven minutes

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Tadej Pogacar produced a dazzling solo attack to win stage 15 and extend his overall lead in the Giro d'Italia by almost three minutes.

Dani Martinez and Geraint Thomas finished fifth and sixth on the day, two minutes 50 seconds behind Pogacar.

That means Thomas remains second overall, six minutes 41 seconds behind the leader and 15 seconds ahead of Martinez.

The queen stage of the race featured more than 5,400m of climbing over 222km (138 miles) and Pogacar once again showed he is a class apart from the rest of his rivals in Italy.

When the Slovenian attacked the group of favourites with 14km to go he rode away rapidly and caught stage leader Nairo Quintana with two kilometres to go.

Movistar's Quintana battled valiantly but finished 29 seconds behind UAE Team Emirates rider Pogacar, with the rest nowhere in sight.

The riders have a rest day on Monday before returning to action on Tuesday for the 206km stage from Livigno to Santa Cristina Valgardena.

Stage 15 result

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 6hrs 11mins 43secs

2. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) +0:29

3. Georg Steinhauser (Ger/EF Education-EasyPost) +2:32

4. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM-Firmenich PostNL) +2:47

5. Dani Martinez (Col/Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:50

6. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) Same time

7. Einer Rubio (Col/Movistar) +2:58

8. Ben O'Connor (Aus/Decathlon) Same time

9. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Ineos Grenadiers) +3:05

10. Jan Hirt (Cze/Soudal) +3:20

General classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 56hrs 11mins 42secs

2. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +6:41

3. Dani Martinez (Col/Bora-Hansgrohe) +6:56

4. Ben O'Connor (Aus/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +7:43

5. Antonio Tiberi (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) +9:26

6. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Ineos Grenadiers) +9:45

7. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM-Firmenich PostNL) +10:49

8. Filippo Zana (Ita/Jayco-AlUla) +11:11

9. Einer Rubio (Col/Movistar) +12:13

10. Jan Hirt (Cze/Soudal) +13:11

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