Cycling-German Denz takes second stage win at Giro

Denz launched his sprint with Israel-PremierTech's Gee and Alberto Bettiol in hot pursuit and narrowly claimed his second stage victory after winning stage 12 this week, with Gee second by half a wheel length and Bettiol third. "I felt super good today," Denz said.

German Nico Denz of Bora-Hansgrohe held off Derek Gee to win stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia on Saturday with another powerful sprint to the finish line of the rain-soaked 193km ride from Sierre to Cassano Magnago. Denz launched his sprint with Israel-PremierTech's Gee and Alberto Bettiol in hot pursuit and narrowly claimed his second stage victory after winning stage 12 this week, with Gee second by half a wheel length and Bettiol third.

"I felt super good today," Denz said. "When Bettiol launched, I jumped on his wheel and just went full to the line. Today was so tough, it was freezing! In the end it's all about determination and drive."

A 27-man breakaway took shape after a fast start, featuring former stage winners Fernando Gaviria, Stefano Oldani, Denz, Bettiol, Davide Bais and Simon Clarke. Cycling through incessant rain which required riders to wear wet weather jackets to protect them from the foul weather which has continued to disrupt this year's race, the breakaway opened up a sizeable gap of over 10 minutes.

Oldani, Laurenz Rex and Davide Ballerini attacked with just over 50km left and were quickly joined by Toms Skujins. The quartet worked together excellently to pull away from their pursuers, but ran out of steam in the final stages and were swallowed up with the finish line in sight.

Sunday's stage 15 is a challenging 195km ride from Seregno to Bergani featuring a number of steep climbs.