Sepp Kuss secured a historic solo victory on stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia on Friday, becoming the 116th rider to win stages in all three Grand Tours. The American, riding for Visma-Lease a Bike, added a Giro success to his previous wins at the Tour de France (2021) and the Vuelta a España (2019 and 2023).
The brutal 151km stage through the Dolomites featured 5,000 metres of climbing, with high-altitude climbs and technical descents testing the peloton before the finish in Alleghe. Lidl-Trek's Giulio Ciccone made a bold move on the final descent, establishing a one-minute lead with 10km remaining, but Kuss powered past him on the final uphill climb with just over 2km to go.
Kuss crossed the line 13 seconds ahead of Canadian Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek), with Ciccone taking third 36 seconds behind. Austrian Felix Gall (Decathlon) finished fourth, followed by overall leader Jonas Vingegaard in fifth with the same time as Gall.
Vingegaard extended his general classification lead to 4 minutes 3 seconds over Gall, while Jai Hindley moved into third place after a strong performance on the final ascent, now sitting 5 minutes 4 seconds behind the Dane. Earlier, Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates) abandoned the race due to complications from a minor crash during the post-stage transfer on Thursday, having won three stages in this Giro.
