Cycling News : Yates solo effort earns victory in Stage 19, Bernal closes in on overall victory

Britain's Simon Yates attacked on a steep ascent to the finish to win the 19th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Friday, but made only a modest gain on Egan Bernal's overall lead with just two days remaining. Yates made his move inside the final seven kilometres and held off his challengers on the double-digit gradient to the Alpe di Mera finish. Portugal's Joao Almeida was second at the end of the 166-kilometre (103-mile) leg from Abbiategrasso, 11 seconds behind Yates. Bernal elected not to respond to the Yates attack and chose instead to manage the gap - the Colombian finished third, 28 seconds behind and lost 34 seconds in total after time bonuses were taken into account. Yates remains third in the General Classification, 2 minutes, 49 seconds behind Bernal, who actually increased his lead slightly over second-placed Damiano Caruso of Italy to 2:29. The stage was modified to bypass the top-category climb of the Mottarone after a cable car disaster there killed 14 people on Sunday. The riders unanimously decided to donate all of the prize money from the stage to the sole survivor, five-year-old Eitan Biran, and the families of the victims.