2023-05-25 15:07:23
Superb Filippo Zana! The Italian won the 18th stage of the Giro ahead of Thibaut Pinot who took the opportunity to recover the best climber’s jersey and made a good comeback in the general classification. Struggling on the last climb, Joao Almeida lost twenty seconds.
The final sprint started this Thursday with the first of the last three big mountain stages between Oderzo and Val di Zoldo, a 161 kilometer long stage.
From the start, a lot of riders tried their luck but mightn’t get away. Even Andreas Leknessund (DSM), yet eighth overall, was one of them. In the peloton, the first ascent, the foot of which was following 30 kilometers, hurt a lot. The rhythm set by the Jumbo-Visma of Primoz Roglic extinguished a lot of inclinations.
A group of five riders nevertheless managed to extricate themselves at the front with Aurélien Paret-Painter (AG2R-Citroën), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla) and the duo from Israel – Premier Tech Derek Gee et Marco Frigo.
At the top, while Pinot took the lead, the INEOS-Grenadiers team accelerated to let go of several Roglic teammates who were still able to return to the descent, once the pace had dropped. The Slovenian still asked questions when he found himself at the back of the peloton made up of around thirty units at the top of the Passo della Crosetta (12.5 km at 7.1%).
In the descent, Vadim Pronskiy (Astana) and Warren Barguil (Arkéa Samsic), gone once morest, finally knew how to return. While the gap was stabilized around two minutes apart, INEOS-Grenadiers eased their foot a little 70 kilometers from the finish and let the fugitives take a little more margin while Pinot was best placed at the end. before, thirteenth at 6’48”. The gap was even greater than 5’30” at thirty kilometers from the finish.
Nine kilometers from the line, when the gap was 4’30”, Pinot placed a first acceleration. Paret-Peintre and Frigo were unable to follow when Pronskiy had already been released. Barguil did not held much longer. Gee then let go, leaving Pinot and Zana alone in front.
In the peloton, the pace was quite calm for a long time until João Almeida (UAE) was forced to let go following an acceleration of Sep kiss (Jumbo-Visma) who took the lead with Roglic, Geraint Thomas (INEOS-Grenadiers) et Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla). Well launched by his teammate, Roglic tried a first acceleration but never knew how to unclamp Thomas. Kuss then returned to do a heavy job.
In the sprint, Zana got the better of Pinot while Barguil, Gee and Paret-Peintre completed the top 5 of the stage. Among the favorites, Roglic and Thomas finished together, 21 seconds ahead of Almeida.
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