Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) hit the jackpot in all sorts of ways on the mountainous stage 19 of the 2022 Giro d’Italia as the Dutchman both claimed his second stage victory of this year’s race and simultaneously gained an unbridgeable lead in the King of the Mountains classification.
Even before the five-rider winning breakaway had reached the finish, Bouwman darted away on the first category Kolovrat ascent in Slovenia to wrap up the mountains title with two days racing remaining.
Then after the 177 kilometre stage returned to Italian soil, Bouwman was once again the quickest at the summit finish of the Santuario di Castelmonte.
However, his victory in a five-way sprint ahead of Mauro Schmid (Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl) and Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) was overshadowed by a controversial late crash for fellow breakaway Andrea Vendrame (AG2R-Citröen) when the Italian skidded off-course almost within sight of the line.
Meanwhile, in the main GC battle, Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) continues to lead ahead of Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe) by a painfully narrow three second margin, although the Ecuadorian lost key mountain support teammate Richie Porte, who fell ill, during the stage. And that loss may prove critical on Saturday’s brutally hard stage through the Dolomites.
Watch the highlights above to see all the action.
