Reuters
Cycling-Martin wins Giro stage 17 as Bernal shows first sign of weakness
Ireland’s Dan Martin completed a hat-trick of grand tour victories when he prevailed in the 17th stage of the Giro d’Italia as overall leader Egan Bernal showed his first sign of weakness on Wednesday. Israel Start Up Nation rider Martin led from the breakaway in the 193-km mountain ride from Canazei to Sega di Ala, ahead of Portugal’s Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Briton Simon Yates (Team Bike Exchange), who came in second and third, 13 and 30 seconds off the pace respectively. Yates attacked the group of top contenders with four kilometres left in the 11.2-km ascent, at an average gradient of 9.8%, to Sega di Ala, and Bernal followed easily before suddenly coming almost to a halt a kilometre further up.