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CROCE D'AUNE-MONTE AVENA, Italy (AP) — Ecuadorian cyclist Richard Carapaz took a huge step towards winning the Giro d'Italia as he preserved his overall lead at the end of the penultimate stage, which was won by Pello Bilbao of Spain on Saturday.
Carapaz, who rides for Movistar, remained 1 minute, 54 seconds ahead of Vincenzo Nibali ahead of the final time trial in Verona on Sunday.
"We've tried to win the stage with Mikel Landa as well as myself to retain the Maglia Rosa but we've missed out by very little," Carapaz said. "However, we're happy with how it went. I believe 1:54 over Nibali is enough although anything can happen in a final time trial."
Landa leapfrogged Primoz Roglic into third, 2:53 behind Carapaz, after finishing second in a sprint with Bilbao after 194 kilometers (121 miles) from Feltre to Croce d'Aune-Monte Avena, which had five long, categorized climbs in the Dolomites.
It was Bilbao's second Grand Tour victory after the Astana rider triumphed on Stage 7.
"I knew that Carapaz would try to give the win to Mikel Landa so I followed the best wheel," Bilbao said. "My first win was special. This second win is even better because it's a big mountain stage. When the GC riders caught us I thought it would be hard but they were tired, too."
Giulio Ciccone was third, two seconds behind the front two.
Miguel Angel Lopez had hopes of competing for a stage win but he was tripped by a fan, who was running alongside encouraging him but collided with another spectator and fell onto the cyclist. As Lopez got back up, he slapped the fan. Lopez was still visibly furious when he crossed the line 18th, 1:49 off the pace.
"I'm sorry for what happened, I was full of pure adrenaline. But there needs to be more respect for the cyclists," Lopez said.
Another incident with a fan also cost Roglic. The Slovenian was pushed by a spectator and didn't attempt to push him away and so was penalized 10 seconds by the race jury. Roglic, who finished 50 seconds behind Carapaz, now trails by 3:16 overall. However, he is a time trial specialist and will hope to at least finish the three-week race on the podium.
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