Chris Froome fights back to win stage 14 of Giro d'Italia as Simon Yates consolidates lead

Chris Froome responded to his critics with a fantastic ride up Monte Zoncolan to win the 14th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday.

Nevertheless, British compatriot Simon Yates consolidated his overall lead.

Froome attacked with about four kilometres remaining of the tough 186-kilometre route from San Vito al Tagliamento. The four-time Tour de France champion gritted his teeth on the final curves of the iconic climb and managed to finish six seconds ahead of Yates.

Domenico Pozzovivo was third, 23 seconds behind Froome, whose chances of winning the race all but ended after a difficult opening week.

Froome, who dropped out of the top 10 earlier this week, moved up to fifth although the Team Sky rider is still more than three minutes behind Yates.

“We’ll take it day by day, it’s not over yet,” Froome said.

Froome had a training crash before the opening time trial, lost time in a split on stage four and injured himself again in a second crash last Saturday.

Yates, who rides for Mitchelton-Scott, extended his lead over defending champion Tom Dumoulin to 1:24.

Pozzovivo moved up to third in the overall standings, 1:37 behind Yates.

The Giro ends in Rome on 27 May.