Giro d'Italia 2017: Bob Jungels Wins Stage 15 Ahead of 2nd Rest Day

Bob Jungels of Quick-Step Floors took the win during Sunday's Stage 15 of the 2017 Giro d'Italia, beating a small group of riders in a sprint.

With most of the contenders for the general classification still recovering from Saturday's rough stage, Jungels, Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali tried a sneak attack on the final climb. Jungels took the win and Quintana grabbed a few bonus seconds, although he still sits well behind Tom Dumoulin in the overall standings.

Here's a look at the stage results, via the Inner Ring:

The current GC:

Sunday's stage wasn't expected to bring about many changes at the top of the GC, with the top favourites resting up for the dreaded Stage 16. The profile of the stage seemed ideally suited for a breakaway.

As shared by sports writer Mihai Cazacu, there was reason to be cautious, however:

The pace of the stage was incredibly high, with the peloton seemingly hoping to get the ride over with quickly, in anticipation of Monday's rest day. Two hours into the stage, the average speed was above 52 kilometres per hour.

A breakaway group eventually formed and included none other than Fernando Gaviria of Quick-step Floors, who had already taken four sprint wins. As soon as the group hit the first climb of the day, it fell apart, however.

In the background, race leader Dumoulin showed some incredible sportsmanship after Quintana, his main rival, crashed. With several riders trying to take advantage, the Dutchman blocked all attacks at the front, allowing the Colombian to return to the peloton, per La Flamme Rouge:

A small group of leaders maintained their lead over the penultimate climb, while in the background, Tanel Kangert crashed spectacularly, hitting a road sign after trying a hop. Eurosport UK shared footage of the crash:

Nibali, one of the peloton's best descenders, attacked shortly before the summit of the final climb, with Jungels also powering away and overtaking the leaders. It was Jungels who led the way with several riders hoping to bridge the gap, and the top contenders eventually all moved to the front.

Jungels took the win, while the pint-sized Quintana showed excellent instincts to sprint to second place.

The peloton will enjoy a rest day on Monday ahead of Stage 16 on Tuesday. It will be the toughest stage any of these riders face all year and is widely regarded as one of the hardest in any of the Grand Tours in a long time.

With one passage over the Passo del Mortirolo and two over the Passo del Stelvio, only the strongest will survive. Tuesday's ride could lead to massive changes at the top of the GC standings.