On the lower slopes of Colle delle Finestre followed in the front group before making a move with 15km of climb remaining. He reached the summit and was solo, pocketing the Cima Coppi prize. Then the descent and the climb to Sestriere, he kept his cool while the battle for the Maglia Rosa raged behind him.
Harper crossed the line delivering Team Jayco AlUla their second stage win of this year's Giro.
"I definitely wasn't expecting it. I got away with a big group, and I just tried to be smart. I gave it 100 percent, and I hoped I could hold on. It's such a famous climb and I'm pretty proud to win the stage here. It's a super challenging stage and I'm really happy I could pull it off.
I asked the car one last time how big the gap was, I knew Simon (Yates) was coming from behind, I wasn't super confident. Once I got to about 1.5km to go, I knew I could hold on and it was a bit of a relief."
-Chris Harper
New record for Yates at Colle delle Finestro becoming the first rider ever to climb the mythical mountain under an hour: 59m 23seconds!
It was Simon Yates pulling off his road to redemption, that marked the most exciting turnarounds in cycling, leaping from third to first overall in the Giro d'ltalia. Having lost the Giro on the same climb to Chris Froome seven years ago, Yates will head into Rome with a second Grand Tour victory.
"Once the route and the parcours was released, I always had in the back of my mind that maybe I could come here and maybe close the chapter. Maybe not to take the jersey in the race, but at least the stage or something. But to pull it off, I really didn't believe."
-Simon Yates
Tough lost for Carapaz
"Del Toro lost the Giro. He didn't know to race well. The smartest rider won."
-Richard Carapaz
"To win you need to play like this. The risk is that you can also lose. They both had the legs, it was down to tactics. We weren't going to ride just to help UAE and finish second."
-Juanma Garate. EF Director Sportiff
Stage 20: Gee, Carapaz and Del Toro
Derek Gee was impressive on stage 20, staying with the main GC favorites, kept a cool head, maintaining his own pace not trying to follow the accelerations from Del Toro and Carapaz. The Canadian solidifies his fourth place in the GC with only the final stage remaining.
"Obviously, when you're in fourth place, you want the podium. But I had the fourth-best legs. I didn't really have the energy to think about what Del Toro and Carapaz were doing. I just did my own ride. It would have been suicide for me to try and go with those guys. With the kind of kick they have and their ability to recover from it, I would have been gone really, really quick."
-Derek Gee
"I told Richard now it's the moment to work but I don't work alone and on the last climb, you drop me. But Richard said no, because you didn't help me when the gap was 20 seconds."
-Isaac del Toro
"I was fine, but I was also aware than the rest of the riders were quite strong. Once in the Finestre climb, I set my own pace and I kept it all the way to the finish. It has been quite hard yet I've enjoyed it a lot, both the race and the pleasure of riding my bike. Even when I was felling empty today, I was thinking I wanted to remember every pedal stroke. Regardless of my final position in the standings, being able to play for the GC has felt like a dream."
-Egan Bernal sits 7th overall after finishing in 24th.
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