Slovenian Jan Polanc seized the leader's pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia on Thursday from his UAE Team Emirates teammate Valerio Conti as Cesare Benedetti claimed victory on the first mountainous stage on this year's route.
After two flat stages, UAE rider Polanc got in a breakaway group on the 158km Stage 12 from Cuneo to Pinerolo and finished 25 seconds behind 31-year-old Italian Benedetti.
Benedetti, riding for Bora Hansgrohe, had been dropped on the category one Montoso climb around 35km from home but worked his way back before sprinting to the biggest win of his career.
Polanc then had a long wait to discover how much time the main bunch pre-stage leader Conti and favourite Primoz Roglic had lost before he could celebrate claiming the pink jersey.
Of the success, Polanc said: "It was a team tactic that I'd go in the breakaway so we could have a better control over the race.
"It was also a way to keep the Maglia Rosa in the team. We were lucky to be able to play these cards and I'm very happy to have the jersey. I was thinking about the stage win as well but being the virtual leader I had to pull a lot more than others.”
He will move on to stage 13 with a lead of 4 minutes, 07 seconds over Roglic with Conti another 44 seconds in arrears.
For Benedetti it was a case of patience finally paying off as he got to hold centre stage for the day.
“I've worked a lot for the others in the past but today I got my opportunity," he said.
"I'm not a talent, I'm not [usually] a winner. I lost contact in the final climb but I knew the three guys at the front would look at each other. The way I finished it off is exactly what I wanted to do.”
