Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) secured a solo victory on stage 17 at the Giro d'Italia. He crossed the line 35 seconds ahead of runner-up Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma) and 2:28 ahead of Jan Hirt (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux).
A breakaway emerged early in the 168km race between Ponte di Legno and Lavarone, and ballooned as a larger chase group connected following the descent of the Passo del Tonale, with 150km remaining on the stage. Buitrago along with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and roughy 23 other riders made the move and gained nearly three minutes on the field led by Ineos Grenadiers.
The lead group split apart and then came back together until Van der Poel attacked with 65km to go, taking several riders with him. Over the Passo del Vetriolo, a chase group reconnected with the leaders that included climbers Buitrago and Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost), along with Leemreize and Hirt to form a group of nine out front that stayed together over the summit with 35km to go.
Van der Poel and Leemreize got away on the descent, but Van der Poel faded on the next climb of the Monterovere. Behind, Buitrago attacked Carthy and Hirt, and then proceeded to catch Van der Poel. Buitrago made contact with Leemreize in the final 500 metres of the ascent, and then attacked in the final 8km and crossed the line with the win.
Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) leads the overall by three seconds over Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and 1:05 over Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), as João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) dropped to fourth, 1:54 back.
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