Giro D'Italia 2017: Caleb Ewan Takes Stage 7 as Bob Jungels Maintains Lead

Orica-Scott star Caleb Ewan finally clinched a victory at the 2017 Giro d'Italia on Friday, although there was no change at the summit as Quick-Step Floors star Bob Jungels retained his place atop the general classification.

After sealing three top-10 finishes in the six stages leading up to Friday's trip from Castrovillari to Alberobello, Ewan beat Fernando Gaviria and Sam Bennett to the finish line after a last-gasp dash, via Eurosport UK:

Stage seven always appeared likely to produce a bunch sprint near its climax and didn't disappoint at the climax of a mostly flat 224-kilometre run up along Italy's southeast coast.

Cycling Hub provided a look at the top 10 finishers on Friday:

Meanwhile, Jungels still leads the general classification, with Team Sky's British ace Geraint Thomas just six seconds behind:

Friday's mad dash for the line produced one of the highlights of the 2017 Giro d'Italia thus far, with Irish upstart Bennett and Quick-Step's Gaviria unfortunate to miss out on the top prize.

Ewan has paid his dues in building up to a well-deserved win at this year's Italian showcase, too, and he spoke of his relief to have finally triumphed in a stage following Friday's victory, per the official Giro d'Italia Twitter account:

Despite only being 22 years of age, the Orica-Scott rider also notched his 10th World Tour victory after storming to first place in stage seven, not to mention sealing his 22nd professional victory overall.

Jungels did enough in the race's final phases to ensure his general classification lead went unharmed on Friday, although he appreciated the "crazy" nature of the seventh stage, per Road.cc:

"It was a bit crazy today but I had to ride at the front in the last ten kilometres to come home safe. It's not a disappointment for our team to not win with Fernando Gaviria today, because he did a great sprint and the team helped him. It's no shame to lose against Caleb Ewan who is very fast."

Jungels retains the maglia rosa—or pink jersey—for the time being, although the likes of Bennett and Gaviria have recently shown their sprint skills to be of an elite calibre in their bid to help their respective teams.

Ewan also won a stage at the 2015 Vuelta Espana, but he'll hope he doesn't have to wait another two years before his next Grand Tour victory as he looks to make a larger impact at the Giro d'Italia.