Kuss solos to victory on Giro's brutal queen stage and Vingegaard stays in pink

American rider Sepp Kuss has won the toughest stage of the Giro d’Italia.

Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Jonas Vingegaard remains firmly in the overall lead heading into the final two days.

Friday's queen stage featured over 5,000 meters of climbing across six ascents in the Dolomites including the brutal Passo Giau.

Kuss was part of the day's breakaway and finished 13 seconds ahead of Derek Gee-West.

Giulio Ciccone was third.

Vingegaard maintains a lead of 4 minutes, 3 seconds over Felix Gall.

The winner will all but be decided on Saturday's penultimate stage before the largely processional ride to Rome.