CEREDIGION’s Stevie Williams had the honour of securing the overall lead of the prestigious Under-23s Giro d’Italia - as well as taking a stage win - before finishing fifth overall in general classification.

The Ronde de l’Isard winner, who is from Capel Dewi, had finished the sixth day of the race with a 13 second lead on the second-placed rider, on one of the most important races of the calendar.

“We went out with the goals of saving as much energy as possible until the final climb, and that worked well,” said Williams, after securing the pink Maglia Rosa jersey as the new overall leader.

“In the last climb, I still had gas left so I could make some gaps. It feels really good to be in pink, it is a dream come true for me, and I am really happy right now.

“The team worked great all day, and on the last climb Jan (Maas) set a high pace until two kilometres to go, and I attacked and managed to take second on the day.”The day featured three categorised climbs, including two first category, and the main group stuck together for the first hour of racing. Eventually, a 16-man group broke clear of the bunch, but was never allowed more than one minute.

In the slopes of the Passo del Tonale, the second-to-last climb of the day, the peloton picked up the pace and quickly it was down to just 50 riders. Williams, who started the day fourth in the general classification, took the front of the favourites’ group with seven kilometres to go.

The high pace set by SEG teammate Jan Mass reduced the main group to just a dozen riders, and the Dutchman made one last push, with Williams on his wheel.

Soon after the Welshman launched an attack that nobody could match and went on to pursue the leader. Williams fell just a few meters short the stage win, but his amazing performance saw the Ceredigion climber move into the overall lead.

The following day saw the pink jersey slip away from Williams, two minutes 14 seconds down on the new leader - but the next stage presented a profile that was perfectly suited to climbers, and the ex-Penweddig schoolboy did not disappoint.

The stage included two categorised climbs, before finishing atop of a first category one, and Williams’ teammate Jan Maas broke the main group into pieces until they reached the 5-kilometre mark.

With a long way to the top, Williams launched an unmatchable attack and went solo. The gap was getting bigger when Williams took the head of the race, and it did not decrease. He took the win, 26 seconds faster than his closest rival.

Williams was now lying in third in the overall classification, just 57 seconds down on the Maglia Rosa.

With three stage wins now under his belt in 2018, Williams said: “After the disappointment of giving the Maglia Rosa away I was determined, motivated and angry. I wanted to do well in that climb.

“Winning a stage here is really nice and so rewarding, it’s something special.

“I tried to save as much energy as possible before the last climb, and it was much easier to do thanks to my teammates. Jan was by my shoulder, whenever I needed something he was there.”

On the penultimate day, Williams rolled alongside Jan Maas in the Maglia Rosa group and was sixth overall, one minute 20 seconds behind the race leader, ahead of double sector of the 10th and final day.

Williams then moved up to third place ahead of the final time trial, but the race was ultimately decided in a final 22 km time trial that saw Williams finish 12th.

He finished a hugely impressive fifth in general classification after 10 tough days.