Cycling-McNulty wins stage 15 of Giro d’Italia in sprint finish

(Reuters) – American Brandon McNulty of UAE Team Emirates held off Ben Healy and Marco Frigo to win stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday, after a 195km ride from Seregno to Bergamo.

McNulty turned on the afterburners with a perfectly-timed sprint to race past Healy (EF Education-Easy Post) and Frigo (Israel–Premier Tech) in the final 100m to snatch victory.

Healy finished second, ahead of Frigo, who appeared to drop off the pace but exerted a superhuman effort in the home straight to finish inches short of a stage win.

A group of 15 riders, including former Giro d’Italia stage winner Alberto Dainese, built an advantage of over 6:30 after the category one ascent in the first half of the race.

Niccolo Bonifazio (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) attacked with just under 50km left, but was quickly reeled in with 35km to go by the trio of Healy, Frigo and McNulty, who never looked back.

Monday is a rest day on the Giro. Tuesday’s stage 16 is mountainous 203-km ride from Sabbio Chiese to Monte Bondone, with over 5,000 metres of elevation.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)