ROME – British rider, Simon Yates, was looking to retain the pink jersey on Tuesday after extending his lead at the top of the Giro d’Italia with victory at stage nine. Fellow countryman and hot favourite, Chris Froome, lost further time on the tour’s front-runner, currently finding himself in 11^th place.

 Yates raced clear in the final 100 m climb towards the snowy Gran Sasso d'Italia summit to hold off French rider, Thibaut Pinot.

 The 25-year-old, who rides for Mitchelton-Scott, opened up a 32-second cushion ahead of teammate, Esteban Chaves, with defending champion, Tom Dumoulin, poised a further six seconds behind.

 Froome’s bid to become only the third rider in history to seal three consecutive Grand Tour victories received a sharp blow after the Team Sky cyclist slipped two minutes and 27 seconds off the lead.

 The four-time Tour de France champion has suffered a torrid tour at this year’s Giro, crashing twice – once in a reconnaissance ride before the opening race, and a second fall during stage eight.

 Domenico Pozzovivo leads the Italian charge for a home victory, sitting 57 seconds back from Yates.

 The cyclists were set to tackle the 239 km ride from Penne to Gualdo Tadino after the tour’s second rest day on Monday. Stage 10 is the longest of the 27-phase race which culminates in Rome on May 27, and Tuesday’s ride will certainly prove a stiff test of Yates’ tour credentials.

General classification – after stage nine

 1 Simon Yates (GB/Mitchelton-Scott) 37hrs 37mins 15secs

 2 Esteban Chaves (Col/Mitchelton-Scott) +32secs

 3 Tom Dumoulin (Ned/Team Sunweb) +38secs

 4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +45secs

 5 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita/Bahrain-Merida) +57secs

 6 Richard Carapaz (Ecu/Movistar) +1min 20secs

 7 George Bennett (Nzl/Lotto NL-Jumbo) +1min 33secs

 8 Rohan Dennis (Aus/BMC Racing) +2mins 5secs

 9 Pello Bilbao (Spa/Astana Pro Team) same time

 10 Michael Woods (Can/EF Education First - Drapac p/b Cannondale) +2mins 25secs

 11 Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +2mins 27secs

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