The Italian champion Filippo Zana (Jayco Alula) won the eighteenth stage of the 106th Giro d’Italia which, through 161 kilometers and 3,700 meters in altitude, took the riders from Oderzo in the Treviso region to Palafavera in Valzoldana. At the end of an exciting duo sprint, the rider from Thiene defeated the French Thibaut Pinot (Groupama FDJ) with another transalpine, Warren Barguil who took third place, 50″ behind. Celebrate his 37th birthday Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in the best possible way. The Welshman increased his lead over second-placed Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma), 29″ away, with Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) slipping to third place today, losing 21″ on the two rivals 39″ from the pink jersey.
The departure from Oderzo was crackling with 20 kilometers covered in the first 23 minutes. On the Crosetta Pass, the first roughness of the day, a reconnaissance quintet was formed with the French Thibaut Pinot and Aurelien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroen), the Italian champion, Filippo Zana and the Israel Premiertech couple made up of Canadian Derek Gee and by Marco Frigo from Bassano. Pinot passed first on the GPM, thus starting a daily en plein with which he mortgaged the conquest of the final blue jersey. In the downhill the leaders Warren Barguil (Team Arkea Samsic) and Vadim Pronskiy (Astana Qazaqstan) returned, bringing the number of leaders to seven. Ineos, despite Pinot’s relative proximity in the standings, thirteenth at 6’48” behind Thomas at the start from Oderzo, was not interested in the breakaway. The group then moved on to the flying finish line in Pieve di Cadore, 48 kilometers from the finish line, with a delay of 5’38”. On the Forcella Cibiana, under the action of the Ineos, the platoon recovered one minute. Meanwhile, Pronskiy, uphill, and Frigo, downhill, were ahead.
The race started on the following Coi climb with 10 kilometers to go. Only Zana was able to resist the forcing of Pinot while, in the group of the best, Roglic unleashed the trusty Sepp Kuss (Jumbo Visma). The American accelerated ferociously taking his captain with him but also Thomas who didn’t concede a millimeter to the Slovenian. On the other hand, Almeida was accused of the blow as he was saved by his teammate, the Australian Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates). Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) also lost contact and at the end of the stage he would have lost the fourth place in the standings to the Irishman Edward Dunbar (Jayco Alula).
Tomorrow the nineteenth stage will be staged, all in the Belluno area. We will cycle from Longarone, on the 60th anniversary of the Vajont disaster, up to the 2,304 meters of the Auronzo refuge at the foot of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, the new Cima Coppi after the exclusion of the Gran San Bernardo in the 13th stage. The kilometers to be covered will be 183 with 5,400 meters in altitude. Five GPMs to climb: Passo Campolongo, second category, after 87 kilometres, Passo Valparola, first category, after 112, Passo Giau, also of the highest level, after 143, the interim Passo Tre Croci, second category , after 169 before the final ascent to the finish line. In 24 hours, the identikit of the winner of the 106th Giro d’Italia should begin to take on very specific characteristics.
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