Jai Hindley exhaled and shook his head as he slowed to a stop at Corso Moncalieri. 'It's been a crazy, crazy day.' In Turin, the door to the Giro d'Italia, and much else, had been blown open thanks to the pushy team of his own Beulah Hansgrohe.

By the time Hindley passed Richard Calapas (Ineos) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana-Cazakstan) to take second place on the stage, 15 seconds behind winner Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco), most of the peloton was still in the hills of western Turin The peloton was scattered in the hills west of Turin. Carapaz moved up to the maglia rosa, but Hindley's performance and the accumulation of bonuses allowed him to move into second place overall, just 7 seconds behind the Ecuadorian as they descended to the banks of the Po River.

It was a bumpy day for Hindley. At one point he was in a 13-man lead group with three of his Bora-Hansgrohe teammates, but on the final lap of the 36-km finish circuit, he lost nearly 0.5 minutes to Calapaz, who accelerated on the Superga climb. Hindley, however, was able to cross with Yates and Nibali on the final climb up the steep Colle della Maddalena.

"It was a pretty bold plan, and we tried to isolate the other GC riders by setting them on fire pretty early," Hindley said. As you guys saw, the team was phenomenal today." It's a shame we didn't win, but the guys proved that we're not just playing here. They bet on it for me."

"Where it all began" Bora-Hansgrohe tore up the Giro when she began her forced march with less than 80km to go, but the seeds had been planted months earlier. In modern cycling, even such acts of invention must be meticulously planned.

This year the Milan-Torino dates were changed to March and the route flattened out, but Enrico Gasparotto took advantage of being in the area that evening to drive over the Sperga and Colle della Maddalena climbs. As he drove, he realized that the finishing circuit for Saturday's Turin stage would have to be on the front foot.

"On a day like this, it's much better to ride aggressively than to stay in the pack," he said. Today was one of those days where you have to use the collective. Today was one of those days where you have to use collectives. Perhaps Ineos will control it, and it is more difficult to invent something. That's why I had to use this day."

For almost two weeks, Ineos Grenadier occupied the lead of the peloton, but they were unceremoniously pushed out when Bora Hansgrohe took the lead on the climb to the beginning of the Remembranza Park and finish circuit.

By the time they dropped back down again toward the first climb of Sperga, the lead group had already been whittled down to a dozen or so, with Leonard Kemna and Wilco Kelderman calling the shots on behalf of Hindley and Emmanuel Buchmann. With nearly 50 miles still to go in the race, Kalapas realized that Ineos' teammates were missing.

After Kemna swept away, Kelderman put in an MVP-caliber performance at the front of the race, setting the tempo throughout the first lap of the finish circuit. By the finish, he was more than eight minutes ahead of the field.

"The plan was to make it a hard race and crack some teams. I think it worked," Kelderman said modestly. He said modestly. Wilco keeps saying he didn't ride hard enough, but I have to give him some respect. I didn't mean to split the group on the descent. I was thinking about the first climb of Superga, so I arrived a little earlier than expected. 0]

From there, the plan went smoothly until the second ascent of Superga. After trading acceleration with Kalapas at the bottom of the hill, Hindley was among the strongest, but when the Ecuadorian kicked even harder near the summit with less than 30 km to go, he hesitated to follow.

"I wasn't sure if he was making faces at Superga, but he didn't look super strong. "On the last steep climb, I knew I still had a long way to go, so I just held on and waited. I was able to ride with the pack and save some energy versus riding alone."

On the 14% slope of the Colle della Maddalena, Hindley ran up to Calapaz with Nibali, and Yates ran up shortly after. Yates escaped and took the stage win, but Hindley attacked Calapaz in the finale. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) was third overall by 30 seconds, with Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) in fourth by 59 seconds.

"Nibali looked pretty godlike and I knew he was going to try something on the last climb," said Landa. 'Then it was a crazy descent down to the finish. It was really crazy, like a one-day race or something."

And therein lies the problem. The stage was run at a hellish rhythm as temperatures soared, but Gruppo will have to do it all over again on Sunday as they head to Val d'Aosta, where the climbs of Pila-les-Fleurs, Véronnes, and Cogne await. The Alps provided a dramatic backdrop for Turin, and the peaks shimmering in the hazy sunlight on Saturday afternoon were a solid reminder of what was to follow.

"I think three or four of us are fighting for the pink, but it's not over yet," Kelderman said. 'This was a crazy stage, but the real mountain is yet to come.'