With two upcoming mountain stages and a final time trial, the sprinters had the last chance to notch up another stage victory on today’s 18th stage of the Giro d’Italia. Almost the entirety of the 222km long route was downhill. After the start in Valdaora, the terrain went uphill for a short time, but then continued downhill before 118km after the start, the 6.7 km long and 4.5 per cent steep Pieve d’Alpago, the only mountain classification of the day, awaited. The last 10 km were completely flat with some 90-degree turns before the drivers reached the finish line in Santa Maria di Sala near Venice.
The intermediate sprint taken after 159km was particularly important for the German road champion Pascal Ackermann. He was trailing A. Démare, the current leader in the sprint classification by only 13 points, and the points collected here would improve his chances against the French rider in the fight for the Maglia Ciclamino. After the drop of the flag, several riders unsuccessfully attempted to break free, and it was not until 50 km later that a breakaway of three riders was able to form.
Back in the main field, BORA-hansgrohe and Israel Cycling Academy pulled at the front to keep the distance to the leaders manageable. With more than half of the race completed, BORA-hansgrohe still tapped out the tempo and the advantage to the leading trio dwindled to around 4 minutes. Ahead of the first intermediate sprint, a large part of the squad from Raubling came to the fore, but when A. Démare opened up his sprint, Pascal did not follow, trying to conserve energy. The break worked well together and with 35km remaining, the trio still had an advantage of more than 4 minutes. At this point, BORA-hansgrohe put the hammer down but the gap only slowly decreased.
During the last 15km, the German team then committed four riders to the front to chase down the leaders, as other teams also began to move up. Over the last few kilometres, the main filed had the escapees in sight. On the finishing stretch, N. Denz, one of the escapees, launched his sprint but his breakaway companion D. Cima overtook him on the line. Pascal crossed the finish in second place and with that result, he regained the Maglia Ciclamino. There were no changes today in the GC.
Result
01 D. Cima 4:46:04
02 P. Ackermann +0:00
03 S. Consonni +0:00
From the finish line
“We had counted the points beforehand and we knew that it would be tight. When I took second place in the final sprint, I was disappointed because my teammates supported me all day and worked so hard. They all really did an amazing job. But when we realised that we re-gained the points jersey, it was a special moment for me and the whole team. But I definitely haven’t won it outright yet, as there are three more difficult stages to come, which I have to survive. However, at the moment we are very happy to have regained the jersey and we will do our best to keep it.”
– Pascal Ackermann
“Somehow the time gaps didn’t match. When we took the time between the break and the peloton, it was 1:30 bigger than what the organisers were giving. I don’t know what happened but that definitely influenced the race and cost us the win. But one also has to complement the breakaway as they were incredibly strong and Cima unquestionably earned the victory. Our guys also rode a very strong race, and they tried everything to give Pascal a chance. Chapeau to them. Everyone in the team fought together today to win back the points jersey.”
– Christian Poemer, Sports Director
