Norway’s Fredrik Dversnes won stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia in his first appearance in the race as a breakaway group pulled off a remarkable triumph in Milan.
Dversnes proved strongest of a four-man group to win ahead of Italian trio Mirco Maestri, who finished second, third-placed Martin Marcellusi and Mattia Bais in fourth.
Uno-X Mobility rider Dversnes delivered his team’s first Giro d’Italia stage win as the breakaway group took full advantage of a lack of communication within the peloton to fend off the sprinters on Milan’s city centre circuit.
After complaints from riders during the race over the safety of the city centre circuit, including overall leader Jonas Vingegaard, race organizers announced the final city-centre lap would not count for general classification purposes and everybody’s overall times would be taken at that point.
Vingegaard’s lead of two minutes and 26 seconds over Portuguese Afonso Eulalio in the overall standings remains in tact, with third-placed Felix Gall third still a further 24 seconds back
Following a rest day on Monday, stage 16 will start and finish in Switzerland on Tuesday, a short 113km mountain stage from Bellinzona to Cari, with the final 12km all uphill and reaching 13% gradients in the final 1,000m.