Yates moved into the white jersey lead after he got the better of Jungels on a demanding 18th stage.
The 137 kilometres of racing were packed with difficult climbs within the span of its short distance and included 4000 meters of vertical gain, which suited the Orica-Scott rider.
Yates does have a Grand Tour pedigree in the classification - winning the Tour de France white jersey in 2016 - but at this Giro, he has to battle one of cycling biggest talents in his attempt to repeat that feat in Italy.
The 24-year-old finished 12th on the stage 1min 16sec down on stage winner Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and moved into the top-ten overall, but more importantly, he now has a 28 second lead on Jungels.
“It wasn’t an easy day in the saddle but in the end, I took the white jersey,” Yates said. “For how long, we will see.”
“We have two mountain stages to go and the time trial, where Bob is obviously much better than me. I need to make some more time in the next two days so we will see what happens.
“It was only the last climb that I suffered quite a bit but other than that I felt quite strong.”
Jungels, already a stage winner at this Giro, struggled and was dropped as he conceded the classification lead to Yates.
Stage 18 proved too much for Bob Jungels (Getty) Source: Getty
"I had a bad day and the legs didn't feel so good on the first three climbs, so I was dropped from the main group,” he said.
“I had to chase alone for the last 50 kilometres of the stage, where I began feeling better, but overall it's a very disappointing day for me.”
Jungels is now 10th overall and will hope to regain the jersey with three stages left to Milan.
