Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) took his first win in nearly a year at stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia. The Colombian formed part of a large early breakaway but attacked several times on the final climb until he cleared his rivals and raced ahead to secure a solo win ahead of Andrea Vendrame (Androni Giocattoli) and Amaro Antunes (CCC Team).
Chaves won a stage of last year's Giro d'Italia on Mount Etna, and went on to experience a turbulent season that saw him suffer from an illness that wasn't diagnosed until months later.
He did not race again for the remainder of 2018, but came into this season hoping to turn things around. At the top of the climb and the finish in San Martino di Castrozza, Chaves was greeted by his parents after what was an emotional win.
In the race for the GC, Richard Carapaz (Movistar) held his overall lead despite attacks from Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma). Carapaz leads the race into the penultimate stage on Saturday with 1:54 over Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and 2:16 over Roglic.