Peter Sagan produced a stunning solo display to win a chaotic 10th stage of the Giro d'Italia.
The Bora-Hansgrohe rider earned the first Giro stage victory of his decorated career with a daring effort on the 177-kilometre route from Lanciano to Tortoreto.
Deceuninck-Quick-Step's Joao Almeida extended his lead at the top of the general classification to 34 seconds on a day that started with a spate of coronavirus-enforced withdrawals.
It was not a happy outing for Jakob Fuglsang as he lost over a minute to Almeida, the Astana rider suffering a mechanical to fall well off the pace.
Despite Sagan's triumph, which means he has now taken stage honours at each of the Grand Tours, Arnaud Demare still has hold of the Maglia Ciclamino.
"I'm very happy, finally," said Sagan. "I've been trying since when we started the season again with Strade Bianche, San Remo, the Tour de France – I was a lot of time on the podium or top five but my last victory was last year in the Tour de France, already a long time ago.
"For sure I did not have the plan [to go solo]. When I already accepted second, third, fourth place, and I let it go and I don't try anymore – and now the victory comes. I'm very happy for that.
"Finally, I won in my style, I do the race, do some show, take the victory – it's something special."
Sagan was aggressive from the outset, leading a breakaway that was at one point five minutes ahead of the peloton.
Rain and a devilish course made for drama aplenty, but Almeida kept himself out of trouble to maintain a firm grip on his Maglia Rosa amid a chasing pack that was disrupted by sporadic breaks.
INEOS Grenadiers rider Ben Swift had been the only man to keep pace with Sagan heading into the last 20km, but the Slovakian proved too strong for the Briton.
The three-time world champion negotiated some horrendously steep climbs and a nerve-wracking descent in the wet to cross the line 19 seconds ahead of nearest rival Brandon McNulty.
STAGE RESULT
1. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 04:01:56
2. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) +00:19
3. Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +00:23
4. Ben Swift (INEOS Grenadiers) +00:23
5. Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb) +00:23
CLASSIFICATION STANDING
General Classification
1. Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) 39:38:05
2. Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) +00:34
3. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-McLaren) +00:43
Points Classification
1. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) 167
2. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 147
3. Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) 51
King of the Mountains
1. Ruben Guerreiro (EF Pro Cycling) 84
2. Giovanni Visconti (Vini Zabu-Brado-KTM) 76
3. Jonathan Castroviejo (INEOS Grenadiers), Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) 45
WHAT'S NEXT?
Stage 11 sees the riders continue up the Adriatic coast on a relatively flat 182km route from Porto Sant'Elpidio to Rimini.