Giro d'Italia favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) lived up to his billing on the first summit finish of the race, attacking to ride solo to the finish on the Blockhaus climb on stage seven.
He was still some way off taking the overall lead from Alfonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious), but the Dane opened up significant gaps on some of his main contenders, including Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos) and Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek).
The race was far from sewn up though, after this longest day of the race – a mammoth 244km. Closest competitor Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) finished a surprisingly close 13 seconds behind, and Giulio Pellizzari and his Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe teammate Jai Hindley around a minute back.
Afterwards Vingegaard said: "Today we just wanted to go for the win... my team-mates did an amazing job today and I'm just happy I could pay it off."
Asked whether attacking at 5.5km to go was the plan, he replied: "We kept it a bit more open to see when the moment was there. There was a lot of wind, and at moments a lot of headwind. It was a very tough climb.
"I'm definitely happy I could take back some time. And take some time on my opponents, that was a good day for us."
He described Gall as a big rival who needed watching: "For sure Felix Gall is a big rival to me," he said. "I knew it already before the race, he's a very strong guy that we really have to take into account."
Visma-Lease a Bike had been vocal about their desire to win today's stage, with ran from Vingegaard, and the team made its intentions clear almost as soon as the race hit the slopes of the Blockhaus, massing at the front alongside the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe team.
Having dispatched the last of the day's break and after a brief Sepp Kuss turn, Vingegaard launched with 5.5km remaining. Young Italian talent Pellizzari managed to follow but a few digs from the Dane dispatched him a kilometre later. Meanwhile Gall was quietly following at a distance and actually managed to gain a handful of seconds on Vingegaard on the line, announcing himself as a key opponent.
How it happened
Today's stage was always going to be about the climbs in its second half and, more specifically, the summit finish on the Blockhaus. Measuring 13.6km long at a fiendish 8.4% average and with super-tough 14% ramps, it loomed over the rest of the stage, all the more ominous for the heavy skies above.
The race has already featured some tough climbing stages, but today felt like the flag-drop on the GC battle proper.
The Blockhaus was not the only climb on the stage – there were at least four solid ascents before the final mountain was reached. Only one of these, Roccaraso, was classified. A category-two. But there was very little flat across the entire second half.
The first half, though, was comparatively flat and, as expected, was characterised by an early break taking the lead. Less predictable was the presence within of sprinter Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), alongside four other breakaways: Nikolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5), Jardi Van Der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti VisitMalta) and Tim Naberman (Picnic PostNL).
After missing out on a chance to contest the win after being baulked by a crash in yesterday's final, Milan was no doubt there for the 12 points he gained by winning the intermediate sprint at Venafro, which saw him close the gap just a little to classification leader Paul Magnier.
As the race's second-heaviest rider at 84kg, there was no chance that Milan was going to be contesting in the hills and he was duly tailed off once the road began to rise.
The remaining quartet held on to a very healthy lead of at times more than six minutes, which only began to fall as the Blockhaus loomed.
Once on its slopes the distance took its toll in the break, which began to fracture, while behind the urgency in the bunch saw its advantage rapidly reduced as both Visma-Lease a Bike and Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe massed on the front. A huge turn by Visma-Lease a Bike's Davide Piganzoli dispatched GC hopefuls Enric Mas (Movistar), Bernal and Gee-West.
At 6.5km to go, everything began to happen at once. The last of the breakaway was caught, Kuss hit the front, maglia rosa Eulalio was dropped and, in short order Vingegaard attacked.
Once he was alone the stage looked done and dusted, but a strong ride from Gall meant Vingegaard won't rest easy on the GC just yet.
Results
Giro d'Italia, stage 7: Formia > Blockhaus, 244km
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, 244km in 6:09:15
2. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +13s
3. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, 1:02
4. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, 1:05
5. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, at s.t.
6. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +1:29
7. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +1:40
8. Derek Gee-West (Can) Lidl-Trek, +1:42
9. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +1:44
10. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, at s.t.
General Classification after stage 7
1. Alfonso Eulálio (Por) Bahrain Victorious, in 30:59:23
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:17
3. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +3:34
4. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +4:25
5. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +4:28
6. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, +4:32
7. Mathys Rondel (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +4:56
8. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +4:57
9. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +5:07.
10. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +5:11
