Giro d'Italia 2023 Stage 15 recap: Bruno Armirail keeps pink, Brandon McNulty wins thrilling three-way battle for stage

"It was my goal coming here but then I got sick in the [opening] time trial and I didn’t know what was going to happen. Then today came together and I’m so happy.

"On the long climb, I tried to go there and I thought my race was done because Ben was so strong. But I clawed back and then we played games on the flat. But in the end it came down to that last kick and then the sprint."

On Marco Frigo's comeback: "I knew he was coming and he ended up coming just at the right moment because I could swing over and catch the draft. I then just went for it."

On UAE Team Emirates' ambitions: "We came here for GC but with also the hope of a stage win. Now it’s happened we can fully focus on Joao [Almeida]."

The French race leader retains the pink jersey but sees his lead slashed after Stage 15.

1. Bruno Armirail
2. Geraint Thomas +1:08
3. Primoz Roglic +1:10
4. Joao Almeida +1:30
5. Andreas Leknessund +1:50
6. Damiano Caruso +2:36
7. Lennard Kamna +3:02
8. Eddie Dunbar +3:40
9. Thymen Arensman +3:55
10. Laurens De Plus +4:18

On reflection, the Irishman says he lost the stage by hesitating on the final climb before putting in his attack.

"I had him [McNulty] for a bit. I made a bit of a mistake waking for [Einer] Rubio. I thought he could help me get back so I had to make quite a big effort to get back to McNulty and Frigo. The legs were good on the steeper part but as soon as it levelled out I was struggling. He slowly but surely crawled me back. Then I couldn’t drop him on the last uphill bit either. He was pretty strong today."

1. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates)
2. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost)
3. Marco Frigo (Israel-PremierTech)
4. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segfredo) +1:50
5. Einer Rubio (Movistar) +1:50

The Portuguese champion leads Thomas and the others home - and there might be just a one-second gap back to Pinot, Kamna and the others after they battled to closed the gaps. It's about 30 seconds before Bruno Armirail leads home another group as the Frenchman takes the pink jersey into the second rest day.

What an incredible finish that was... Marco Frigo rode back and straight past the other two and he looked like he would pull off one of the most amazing comebacks in recent history. But Healy and McNulty managed to regroup, respond and go for it - with Brandon McNulty holding off Ben Healy to take his first stage win in a Grand Tour.

We've seen Ben Healy win along but never in a sprint... and so this is going to be quite exciting. It's the EF man who is leading it out on the home straight - and Frigo is back into the equation! Wow - he's passed them and is going for the line...

The Irishman finally makes his move but he can't shake McNulty. Frigo looks to be out of the equation - he's really hit the wall.

It's show time. From this breakaway of 17 riders we now have an American, an Italian and an Irishman - 25, 23 and 22 respectively. Who are you backing?

The American makes the first move - and he's not leaving it to the climb, he's going early. Frigo refuses to lead the chase, which forces Healy to take it up to close the gap.

He may well pay for it but as the saying goes - you have to be in it to win it. And the Italian has given himself a chance where a chance did not exist before. What a race Israel-PremierTech are having. Will this be another runner-up spot for them or can they finally get a win?