Mexican rider Del Toro extends Giro lead beyond a minute after rivals slowed by crash

NOVA GORICA Slovenia AP Overall leader Isaac Del Toro gained chunks of time on several of his biggest rivals who were slowed by a crash in the wet and slippery th stage of the Giro d Italia on Saturday Kasper Asgreen of Denmark who got into an early breakaway won the mostly flat stage all on his own Del Toro the first Mexican rider to wear the pink jersey finished in the second group seconds behind But Del Toro s UAE Association Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso champion Primoz Roglic and top-placed Italian Antonio Tiberi all finished further behind We craved to be ahead in incident accidents like that happen or there are splits in the group noted Del Toro who is challenging for a Grand Tour conquest for the first time He entered the stage seconds up on Ayuso and improved his lead to minute seconds over Simon Yates Ayuso dropped to third behind champion Richard Carapaz was fourth behind and Roglic trailed by in fifth Tiberi who also hit the road dropped from third to eighth behind Giulio Ciccone who was seventh appeared injured in the crash but got back on his bike and finished the stage several minutes behind the leaders My right leg hurts It s not the bone it s a muscular thing But I need to go get an X-ray Ciccone explained The crash about kilometers miles from the finish occurred on a section of cobblestones where the road was narrowed by a raised sidewalk coming around a curve Mads Pedersen the sprinter who has won four stages in this Giro was also involved in the crash and needed to change his bike The -kilometer -mile leg started in Treviso and finished over the territory line in Slovenia It was Asgreen s first accomplishment in the Giro having also won a stage in the Tour de France In the second half of a Grand Tour everybody has tired legs and that made the difference currently for the breakaway to be thriving Asgreen explained The weather conditions have definitely played in my favor The final circuit was quite technical Wet roads made it harder for the bunch to catch us For Stage on Sunday there s a big climb up Monte Grappa at the midpoint of the -kilometer -mile road from Fiume Veneto to Asiago Monday is the race s third and final rest day Then come the biggest mountain stages in the final week before the Giro ends in Rome next weekend AP cycling https apnews com hub cycling Source