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Verona bags sixth win for Lidl as Giro hits mountains / Photo: © AFP
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Verona bags sixth win for Lidl as Giro hits mountains
Spain's Carlos Verona of Lidl-Trek won stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia on Sunday while Team UAE's Isaac Del Toro remains in the overall lead after a mountainous 219km stage from Fiume Veneto to Asiago.
Verona's solo triumph was the 32-year-old's first-ever win on a grand tour and Lidl-Trek's sixth stage win on the 2025 Giro -- Mads Pedersen, with four, and Dan Hoole taking the other five.
The victory came, however, on a day that started badly for Lidl-Trek with the retirement of team leader Giulio Ciccone who pulled out injured after a difficult day in the saddle on Saturday.
Verona peeled away on the final climb and held a slender advantage over the peloton all the way to the line.
The 21-year-old Del Toro did enough to hold on to the lead, the Mexican remaining 1min 20sec ahead of Simon Yates with Spaniard Juan Ayuso third, six seconds further adrift -- small change given the mountains ahead.
Egan Bernal's Ineos team were a chief protagonist during an eventful stage, with attacks on both big climbs.
Second-placed Yates of Visma kept his powder dry the first time Bernal accelerated on the Monte Grappa 21km climb but Del Toro skipped after him with ease.
Yates followed them on their second doomed attack on the final climb, more aimed at killing off the fading hopes of pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic.
The Slovenian, who fell heavily on Saturday, suffered further serious damage to his aspirations, dropping out of the top five after losing another 1min 30sec.
G.Collins--SFF
