Denz takes his second stage win at the Giro d'Italia

Nico Denz took his second stage win in the 106th Giro d'Italia with an energetic performance. The 29-year-old won the sprint of a breakaway group on the 14th stage after 194 kilometres from Sierre to Cassano Magnago by a wafer-thin margin ahead of the Canadian Derek Gee.

Denz had only won the twelfth stage in Rivoli on Thursday - also as a breakaway rider. Overall, it was the third German stage win in this year's Tour of Italy.

"This is crazy. I don't even understand what's happening at the moment. It must be a dream," said Denz after his latest coup: "I went all or nothing. I didn't want to finish fourth." Denz rode almost alone over the last two kilometres to close a gap of 14 seconds on the three leaders, before having the greatest stamina in the sprint.

Runaway takes the pink jersey

The contenders for overall victory, led by former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas and German hopeful Lennard Kämna, took it easy and crossed the finish line more than 21 minutes behind. Frenchman Bruno Armirail, who was part of the breakaway, thus took over the pink jersey.

The change in the lead should come in handy for Thomas, as his Ineos team will have to do less leading work. Armirail is likely to lose the maglia rosa again on the difficult mountain stages at the latest. Otherwise, there was no change in the gaps between the favourites.

The Giro continues on Sunday with the 15th stage from Seregno to Bergamo over 195 kilometres. Three second-category mountain classifications and one first-category climb await the riders.

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