Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narvaez continued he and his team’s extraordinary Giro d’Italia with victory on stage 11.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider, 29, beat Spain’s Enric Mas of Movistar over the line.
Both riders had gone clear of the main breakaway group with about 18km to go of Wednesday’s 195km race to Chiavari near Genoa.
Italy’s Diego Ulissi finished third for XDS-Astana.
Narvaez’s form has been a boots to the UAE team, who lost three of their strongest riders – including Britain’s Adam Yates – on stage two in Bulgaria.
The trio were forced to abandon the three-week race following a harrowing crash in heavy rain – with Yates, the team’s hope for the pink jersey, left concussed and covered in mud and blood, after colliding with an Armco barrier.
Australia’s Jay Vine also retired with concussion and Spain’s Marc Soler with a pelvic fracture – both were taken to hospital.
The team’s response was to try to win stages and – alongside Spaniard Igor Arrieta’s brilliant battling win in the rain on stage five – Narvaez has excelled on all terrain so far, using strength in sprints and showing too much for his opponents on both short and longer climbs.
Narvaez explained afterwards he had twice missed other riders breaking away from the peloton early on, and had to bridge over to the front group – which requires a huge amount of energy to ride alone in the wind.
“Mas is stronger than me on the climbs,” said Narvaez. “I remember a book I was reading [which said]: ‘If you don’t have the game, make your own game.’
“You will not see Michael Phelps [running], he’s especially for the [swimming] pool – so I just tried to defend myself.”
Narvaez is expected to re-sign for his former team, Britain’s Netcompany Ineos Cycling, in 2027, as they look to add to their squad following new investment.
Portugal’s Afonso Eulalio unexpectedly remains in the overall lead following a quiet day for the peloton, and will contest and seventh day in pink on Thursday.
Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, favourite to win the pink jersey when the race reaches its end in Rome on 31 May, is second overall, 27 seconds down.
Meanwhile, Britain’s 18-year-old junior road world champion Harry Hudson has suffered a fractured vertebra following in a training incident.
He posted on social media: “Just over a week ago while training in Girona I was hit on a descent by a motorbike and had a pretty scary crash.
“After 24 hours in hospital I was released. I’m now at home recovering.”
Britain’s Lewis Askey, 25, of NSN Cycling, finished third in the first stage of the Fours Days of Dunkerque race in France.