Koen Bouwman claimed his second victory of the Giro d'Italia on stage 19, while Richard Carapaz maintained his three-second general classification lead on Friday.

Jumbo Visma's Bouwman profited from a dramatic uphill finish at Santuario Di Castelmonte following a day-long five-man breakaway across the 178-kilometre race, which included a brief visit to Slovenia.

The Dutchman, who also leads the King of the Mountains classification, watched a last-corner mistake from Mauro Schmid (QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl) force Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroen) off the road.

Bouwman surged through to win as Schmid recovered to take second, with Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane) taking third and Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ) finishing ahead of a furious Vendrame.

However, Schmid was quick to question the last-corner problems with Bouwman and Vendrame.

"My opinion it was not a fair sprint, it was pretty clear, my handlebars are still in front and he nearly crashed in the last corner, he just knows he's slower in the sprint and he just pushed me away. You'll see when you watch the last 100-200 metres. I can do nothing," he told reporters.

"It was not fair in my opinion. Second place is first loser, so I'm not happy with that. I think I had it in the legs today. Of course, I'm disappointed but I want to say thanks to the team."

Bouwman, though, offered a different version of events to Schmid as he added: "I knew there was a corner to the left but I didn't know it was this sharp. I had to brake quite hard and I knew I had to take the inside [of the corner].

"After my first victory I said it would be really nice if I could have another one, but I also said I have to be realistic. It was my first victory as a pro. Now to win two stages in the Giro – I'm just so happy I don't have words.

Meanwhile, Carapaz finished eighth on the same time as Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) as the general classification battle continues.

Giro d'Italia 2022 - Stage

Marano Lagunare - Santuario di Castelmonte

@koenbouwman - @JumboVismaRoad
@mauro_schmid - @qst_alphavinyl
@AleTonelli92 - @Bardiani_CSF

@RichardCarapazM keeps the Maglia Rosa#Giro pic.twitter.com/Zex4QdEq9b
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 27, 2022

Carapaz loses key team-mate Porte

Ineos Grenadiers' Richie Porte was forced to abandon the Giro at stage 19 due to illness, leaving Carapaz without a key supporter for the final two summits of the race.

Porte will be disappointed to finish his 13-year Grand Tour career in such fashion, having announced his intention to retire at the end of the season, and Carapaz was frustrated to lose his team-mate.

"Truth is, it's been a really difficult day today. I'm really disappointed for Richie it's unlucky," he told reporters.

"But the team is doing a good job and we're dealing with everything the best we can. We're all at a good level and trying to make it into a positive.

"It was a little give and take today but I think we're all pretty much on the same level at the top. It wasn't such a fantastically difficult finale that it was going to break up very much."

STAGE RESULT

1. Koen Bouwman (Jumbo Visma) 4:32:55
2. Mauro Schmid (QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl) same time
3. Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane) same time
4. Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ) same time
5. Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroen) same time

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) 81:18:12
2. Jai Hindley (BORA-Hansgrohe) +0:03
3. Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) +1:05

Points Classification

1. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) 254
2. Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) 136
3. Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl) 132

King of the Mountains

1. Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) 294
2. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) 103
3. Diego Rosa (EOLO-Kometa) 94