Zakarin wins 1st mountain-top finish of Giro; Polanc leads

CERESOLE REALE, Italy (AP) — Russian rider Ilnur Zakarin won the 13th stage of the Giro d’Italia with a solo attack up to the race’s first big mountain-top finish, and Jan Polanc held onto the overall leader’s pink jersey Friday.

Zakarin, who rides for Team Katusha Alpecin, required more than 5½ hours to complete the 196-kilometer (122-mile) route from Pinerolo to Ceresole Reale near Turin. It was the third Grand Tour stage win of Zakarin’s career, having also won stages in the 2015 Giro and 2016 Tour de France.

The route featured three major climbs, including a grueling ascent to Ceresole Reale between banks of snow lining the road.

Zakarin was part of an early breakaway and then accelerated away from Mikel Nieve in the final kilometers. Nieve crossed second, 35 seconds behind, and Mikel Landa finished third, 1:20 behind.

Overall favorites Primoz Roglic and Vincenzo Nibali finished in a two-man group in seventh and eighth, respectively, both nearly three minutes behind Zakarin.

Roglic and Nibali finished well ahead of Polanc, who took the lead on Thursday.

Polanc now leads Roglic by 2:25 with Zakarin third, 2:56 behind, Bauke Mollema fourth and Nibali fifth.

“We knew the last climb will be really hard,” Zakarin said through a translator. “I didn’t have a plan for the climb. I did my best and this is the result. The ambition is to be in the top five and now it is possible.”

Landa, who has gained time on the other overall favorites for two consecutive days, is eighth. Miguel Angel Lopez had a mechanical problem with his chain on the final climb and trails by 7:48.

Team Ineos rider Tao Geoghegan Hart of Britain crashed out while in an early breakaway.

Stage 14 on Saturday is another grueling mountain leg, featuring five climbs and another uphill finish along the 131-kilometer route from Saint-Vincent to Courmayeur in the Valle d’Aosta region near the French border.

The three-week race ends in Verona on June 2.