Juan Ayuso won the seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia on Friday as Primoz Roglic moved top of the overall standings.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Ayuso powered away from the group of general classification contenders over the top of the final climb to win his first Grand Tour stage by four seconds.
The 22-year-old Spaniard’s team-mate Isaac del Toro of Mexico was four seconds behind him in second, with Colombian Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) denying Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Roglic the final place on the podium.
However, 2023 Giro champion Roglic took over the overall leader’s pink jersey from Mads Pedersen, with the Danish classics rider losing touch as expected on the final climb.
“It’s my fourth Grand Tour. I’ve been very close [to a stage win] but I never managed to pull it off,” Ayuso said.
“To finally do it today in my first Giro d’Italia is something super special and I will always remember. I let others start attacking then when I saw my distance, I went for full gas to the finish.”
Great Britain’s Max Poole of Picnic PostNL was ninth on Friday, with the 22-year-old moving up to fifth overall.
The 168km stage from Castel di Sangro to Tagliacozzo was the first mountain stage of the 2025 edition and saw the contenders for the general classification come to the fore.
Stage eight on Saturday is a similar medium mountain stage from Giulianova to Castelraimondo over 197km.
