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Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) has not worn the Giro d'Italia leader's jersey this year yet but the British rider looks set to win the Grand Tour when it concludes tomorrow.
Jai Hindley took the race lead from his Team Sunweb team mate Wilco Kelderman on the Sestriere stage today.
Kelderman was dropped in the same way he was on Thursday's stage; Rohan Dennis riding hard on the front and pulling his team mate Geoghegan Hart away from everyone else, apart from Hindley.
As was the case on Thursday's stage 18, Dennis paid for his efforts towards the end of the stage, with Geoghegan Hart and Hindley riding away from him and sprinting it out for victory.
However, this time the stage result was reversed; Geoghegan Hart getting the better of Hindley to claim his second stage win and draw level with him on time at the top of the leader board.
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Team Sunweb passed the pink jersey from Kelderman to Hindley but Ineos Grenadiers has pulled Geoghegan Hart in what looks like a race-winning position with just the final TT to come tomorrow
Though Geoghegan Hart and Hindley are, incredibly, equal on time it is Hindley who takes the pink jersey into the final stage tomorrow, a pan flat 15.7km TT which Geoghegan Hart is favourite to win.
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And he now looks set to become the latest British rider to win a Grand Tour; a result nobody would have predicted at the start of the race.
Today, once Dennis's work on the front of the select group had dropped everyone apart from Geoghegan Hart and Hindley it was clear Hindley had to try and get clear on his own and gain time ahead of tomorrow's TT if he was going to win the race overall.
However, while Hindley tried several times on the final ascent, Geoghegan Hart was easily able to match his attacks, though he looked laboured as he was riding much bigger gears.
As Hindley attacked and Geoghegan Hart covered those moves, Dennis went off the back before clawing his way back on and going back to the front to set the pace and discourage any further attacks.
The former world TT champion has been worth his weight in gold in recent days as he has single-handedly pulled Geoghegan Hart into a racing-winning position, even if Dennis was tailed off towards the finish today and had to settle for 3rd place.
Back the road today, behind the leading trio, Kelderman was dropped on the penultimate climb and once he lost contact he continued to shed time, eventually finishing in 8th some 1:35 down. He now slips to 3rd overall, 1:32 down on Hindley and Geoghegan Hart.
The result today sets up a nail-biting final TT tomorrow but on a flat course few would bet against Geoghegan Hart beating Hindley in the test and winning the race outright; a huge turn around for Ineos Grenadiers after a disaster on the Tour de France.
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