Chris Froome endured another tough stage at the Giro d’Italia after a late chase saw him lose time to the maglia rosa.
The Team Sky rider was held up by a late crash on the day’s penultimate climb in Osimo, forcing him to claw back ground ahead of the final ramp.
After digging deep he eventually crossed the line 40 seconds back on stage winner Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott). That result saw him slip to 12th place overall, 3:20 back on the maglia rosa.
“It was a tough day, it wasn’t as long as yesterday, but after yesterday’s stage it was another pretty brutal finish,” Froome said.
“I’m definitely not going to lie, it took a whack out of me that crash before the start in Jerusalem and in this game if you’re not at your absolute best there’s nowhere to hide, you can’t really hide [from injuries] and if you do you can’t hide it for long.
“I feel as if I’ve been progressing throughout the race, still just chipping away and hoping to do the best I can.
“I’m going to keep fighting, it’s good to get this racing in the legs as I’ve not done much racing this year, so it’s good to get the racing in.
“I certainly haven’t given up hope. We saw yesterday for Esteban (Chaves) how quickly this race can change for any one of those GC riders. I’m going to keep plugging away, I’m motivated, the team’s motivated and we’re going to do as much as we can.”
