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

NOVA GORICA, Slovenia — Overall leader Isaac Del Toro gained chunks of time on many of his biggest rivals who were slowed by a crash in the wet and slippery 14th 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 16 seconds behind.

But Del Toro's UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso, 2023 champion Primoz Roglic and top-placed Italian Antonio Tiberi all finished further behind.

''We wanted to be ahead in case accidents like that happen or there are splits in the group,'' said Del Toro, who is challenging for a Grand Tour victory for the first time.

He entered the stage 38 seconds up on Ayuso and improved his lead to 1 minute, 20 seconds over Simon Yates. Ayuso dropped to third, 1:26 behind; 2019 champion Richard Carapaz was fourth, 2:07 behind; and Roglic trailed by 2:23 in fifth.

Tiberi, who also hit the road, dropped from third to eighth, 3:02 behind.

Ciccone abandons

Giulio Ciccone, who was seventh at the start of the day, appeared injured in the crash but got back on his bike and finished the stage several minutes behind the leaders. Later, his Lidl-Trek team announced Ciccone was abandoning the race.

''My right leg hurts," he said. "It's not the bone, it's a muscular thing.''

The crash, about 22 kilometers (15 miles) from the finish, occurred on a section of cobblestones where the road was narrowed by a raised sidewalk coming around a curve.

''Some guys crashed in the front. I wasn't that much in the front but I crashed, too, because someone hit me from behind,'' Del Toro said. ''I managed to stand up and go quickly to the front.

''Times on GC (are) a bit different now but in my mind and my body it's the same, I just want to be up there. I'm in a good shape. People around me give me the confidence."

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 195-kilometer (121-mile) leg started in Treviso and finished over the border in Slovenia.

It was Asgreen's first victory in the Giro, having also won a stage in the 2023 Tour de France — plus the Tour of Flanders in 2021.

''In the second half of a Grand Tour, everybody has tired legs and that made the difference today for the breakaway to be successful," Asgreen said. ''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 15 on Sunday, there's a big climb up Monte Grappa at the midpoint of the 219-kilometer (136-mile) route 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.

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AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling