The stage 11 winner attacked from the maglia rosa group on the legendary Mortirolo climb with 48km to go and held a slight advantage over the top of the ascent before linking up with his EF Education-EasyPost teammate Georg Steinhauser.

Georg had been in the day’s early break and combined with Richie in the valley before the final climb. A frantic chase from the peloton eventually saw Richie and Georg ease up, and on the final climb, Richie was the only rider able to follow the move from stage winner and race leader Isaac del Toro.

Richie eventually finished third on the stage into Bormio, and his ride moved him up one place to second overall, the highest position our leader has held since the start of the Giro d’Italia nearly three weeks ago. Sitting 41 seconds off top spot, Richie is well placed ahead of the two final mountain tests that come on stages 19 and 20.

"When I attacked on the Mortirolo, I thought others would follow, because they had sent more teammates up the road,” Richie said after the finish.

“I came over the top with a gap and rode my own descent. Georg was waiting for me in the valley, but it was too far from the finish, so we held back. He did a great job for me. It started to rain in the finale, and I didn’t want to take any risks on the wet roads. Now we recover. We are looking forward to two very big days in the mountains."

Sport director Juanma Gárate gave his assessment on how the stage played out, before looking ahead to the harder days in the Giro d’Italia that will ultimately decide this year’s race.

“Originally, the idea was not to try to win the stage today. It was about sending people in front to be ready in case there was a big battle on the Mortirolo. More teams were more ready than us with more riders in front, but they didn't move, so Richie tried two kilometers before the top, and he had a gap, but the situation behind was under control,” Juanma said.

“Even having Georg in front, we stopped them both, because we were going nowhere like this. At the end, Del Toro did a very strong move. It didn't surprise me, because it was a very punchy finish. The downhill was a little bit wet. He's a kid. And he had that explosiveness. Luckily, we don't have three-kilometer climbs anymore. They are going to be about 15 minimum. So yeah, things are going alright!”