Holland's Tom Dumoulin took control of the Giro d'Italia with a supreme victory in the stage 10 time-trial.
Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) resumed following Monday’s rest day in third place, with a 30-second deficit to leader Nairo Quintana (Movistar).
But the Dutchman overcame it with ease by winning the 39.8-kilometres time-trial from Foligno to Montefalco by 49 seconds from Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), taking the pink jersey in the process.
Dumoulin now leads by two minutes 23 seconds from Quintana in second place ahead of Wednesday’s hilly 161km 11th stage from Florence to Bagno di Romagna.
An intriguing battle awaits between Dumoulin and Quintana, the 2014 champion and favourite.
Thomas (Team Sky) lost more than five minutes on Sunday’s ninth stage to Blockhaus following a crash caused by a police motorbike.
The Welshman recovered some of his losses in the race against the clock and was the provisional leader in 51 minutes 26 seconds.
That was until Dumoulin took the stage in 50mins 37secs.
Thomas began the day in 17th place, 5:14 adrift of the lead, but moved up to 11th, 5:33 behind Dumoulin and 14secs short of the top 10.
The Briton told Eurosport: “It was one of those where I just thought get on with it, get stuck in, bite the bullet and see how quickly I could go.
“It shows I’ve got the form and condition. I certainly felt a bit handicapped with my arm (following the crash).
“Hopefully I can recover more (time) now in the next few days.
“It’s a good boost to the confidence to put time into most of the GC (general classification) guys.
“It still hurts mentally to lose the chance of going for a win or the podium, through no fault of my own.
“You can’t dwell on that. You’ve got to move on, keep fighting and see what you can get out of it.”
Quintana, who had won at Blockhaus to seize the overall lead, knew the day’s racing would be about consolidating losses for him as Dumoulin has time-trial pedigree.
The Colombian was more than two minutes behind on the road and finished in 23rd place, 2:53 behind.
Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), second at the start of the day with a 28-second deficit to Quintana, finished in 53:19. The Frenchman is now fourth, 2:40 behind, as Baulke Mollema (Trek Segafredo) moved to third.
Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) started the day in 16th, 4:49 adrift, after also being delayed by the crash to Blockhaus.
Yates is not as proficient as Thomas against the clock and finished the day in 17th place, 2:39 behind Dumoulin.
He remained 16th overall, but fell 6:58 behind.
