Friday 18 May 2018 23:44, UK
Team Sky's Egan Bernal is closing on victory at the Tour of California after a dominant display in stage six in South Lake Tahoe.
The Colombian, aided by team-mate Tao Geoghegan Hart, broke away on the climb to Daggett Summit, and beat the rest of the field by nearly 90 seconds to regain the overall lead.
Bernal blew the rest of his general classification rivals apart with an acceleration on the penultimate climb, which came not long after Geoghegan Hart had tested leader Tejay van Garderen with an attack.
Van Garderen had to sit and suffer while Bernal quickly made up the 23 seconds he needed on the American, who had taken the lead from him in Wednesday's time-trial.
Adam Yates, whose twin brother Simon leads the Giro d'Italia, made a late attack and finished second on the stage with Geoghegan Hart third.
By the time Van Garderen crossed the line in seventh, Bernal had secured a lead of 85 seconds to take into Saturday's final stage, a likely sprint finish in California's state capital Sacramento.
The stage win was Bernal's second of the race and continued a fine run of form for the 21-year-old, who is in his first season with Team Sky.
Bernal has already won the Colombia Oro Y Paz and finished second overall in the Tour of Romandie, where he was successful in a mountain time-trial as well.
