Vingegaard claims impressive Giro stage win

Jonas Vingegaard put on an impressive breakaway ride to win stage seven of the Giro d'Italia and complete his set of Grand Tour stage victories.

On the famous Blockahus climb, which featured 13.6km at gradients of up to 14%, the Dane - making his debut at the event - made his move with 5.5km to go.

In a show of strength and stamina, no-one could stay with him in what was the pre-race favourite's first telling move of the Giro as he broke the record time for ascending the Blockhaus.

Vingegaard did the climb in a record 38 minutes 22 seconds as he won by 13 seconds from second-placed Felix Gall, of Austria.

Australian Jai Hindley was third on the 244km stage, which was the longest on the Grand Tour in five years.

Vingegaard has now claimed stages victories on each of the Grand Tours, which include the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana - both of which he has won - and Giro d'Italia.

His victory moved him into second place in the general classification standings, three minutes and 17 seconds behind leader Afonso Eulalio. Gall is 17 seconds behind Vingegaard in third place.

"I'm definitely happy that I could take back some time," said Vingegaard, who is aiming to become the eighth rider to win all three Grand Tours. "It's a good day for me, a good day for us.

"For sure Felix Gall is a big rival to me. I knew it already before the race, he's a really strong guy that we really have to take into account."

Giro d'Italia stage 7 results

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) 6hrs 9mins 15secs

2. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon) +13secs

3. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull – BORA) +1min 2secs

4. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull – BORA) +1min 5secs

5. Ben O'Connor (Aus/Team Jayco AlUla) same time

6. Mathys Rondel (Fra/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +1min 29secs

7. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl - Trek) +1min 40secs

8. Derek Gee-West (Can/Lidl - Trek) +1min 42secs

9. Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +1min 44secs

10. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Netcompany Ineos) same time

Giro d'Italia general classification results after stage 7

1. Afonso Eulalio (Por/Bahrain-Victorious) 30hrs 59mins 23secs

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +3min 17secs

3. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon) +3min 34secs

4. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull – BORA) +4min 25secs

5. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull – BORA) +4min 28secs

6. Ben O'Connor (Aus/Team Jayco AlUla) +4min 32secs

7. Mathys Rondel (Fra/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +4min 56secs

8. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl - Trek) +4mins 57secs

9. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Netcompany Ineos) +5mins 7secs

10. Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +5min 11secs