Wout van Aert snatched victory in stage nine of the Giro d'Italia after pipping pink jersey leader Isaac Del Toro to the finish line in Siena.
An enthralling finale saw Del Toro surge forward inside the final 20-kilometre stretch, but he was closely trailed by Van Aert as the pair battled towards the finish.
A tight encounter between the duo culminated in a sprint up the hill in the final 600 metres, where Van Aert overtook the UAE Team Emirates rider to fly over the line and clinch the stage victory.
Although he was narrowly beaten by Van Aert, a second-placed finish on Sunday means Del Toro claims the pink jersey going into stage 10, which takes place on Tuesday with a mostly flat course running between Lucca and Pisa.
Italy's Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek came in third on the stage nine race in Siena.
Ireland's Ethan Rafferty, riding for EF Education- Easypost, claimed his highest finish of the Giro so far, finishing in 30th position on the ninth stage.
Rafferty was some two minutes behind the winner but it represents a strong performance for the Tyrone native that helped him move up 19 places in general classification to 85th, 51:32 behind Del Toro.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale sprinter Sam Bennett finished safely in 140th position.
Earlier in the race, Tom Pidcock was involved in a crash with pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic – who was third in the general classification going into Sunday’s stage – and both cyclists sustained punctures to drift behind the leading group by just over one minute with 40km left to go. Roglic drops to 10th overall, two minutes and 25 seconds behind Del Toro.
