Kelderman takes the rose: the 18th stage goes to Hindley. Almeida collapses, Second place for Tao Geoghegan Hart.
On the Stelvio (top of Coppi of the pink race) the Portuguese is in crisis, even Nibali the Shark loses the wheels of the best and both are no longer able to recover. The Dutchman from Sunweb is the new leader of the general classification.
Jai Hindley won the 18th stage of the 103rd edition of the Giro d’Italia. Extraordinary performance by the Australian who beats Geoghegan Hart on arrival at the Cancano Lakes. The new pink jersey is Wilco Kelderman, the 29-year-old Dutch Sunweb takes advantage of the crisis of Joao Almeida and takes the symbol of primacy. In the overall standings Hindley is second at 12 “, Geoghegan Hart is third at 15”.
207km mountain stage from Pinzolo to Cancano Lakes with more than 5400 meters of altitude, four Gpm including the Stelvio.
Early in the stage, 15 riders escape: Felline, Tonelli, Rossetto, Guerreiro, Navarro, Holmes, De Gendt, Pedrero, Samitier, Cataldo, Meintjes, O’Connor, Swift, Dombrovski and Ganna. When they reach the base of the Stelvio climb, on the most challenging side (almost 25 km at 7.5% of which half over 2000 m), they have a 3 ‘advantage over the pink jersey group pulled by the men of Sunweb. During the ascent from the main group, O’Connor, winner in the 17th stage, takes off, while the margin is reduced. O’Connor’s action brings him to the head of the race, while his captain in the NTT, Pozzovivo, loses ground behind the pink jersey squad. Sunweb raises the pace, and for the first time Almeida seems to feel fatigue.
The first break is caught, Almeida and Nibali are dropped. In pursuit of O’Connor there are Dennis who makes a frenzied pace for Geoghegan Hart and Hindley who is not waiting for his teammate Kelderman. O’Connor’s fades. Atop the Stelvio, Dennis passes Geoghegan Hart and Hindley. Kelderman loses further ground in the long descent. On the start of the final climb towards Cancano lakes (Cat 1 Gpm, 8.7 km at 6.8%) Dennis drops back, Kelderman is overtaken by Fuglsang and Pello Bilbao. Hindley wins in the sprint ahead of Geoghegan Hart, third at 46 “Pello Bilbao, Fuglsang reaches 1’23” and Kelderman, new leader of the classification overall, at 2’18 “. Almeida, Nibali, Pernsteiner and Masnada closed at 4’54 “behind the winner of the day.
Patrick Konrad on Snowy Stelvio
Team Sunweb set out with a plan to make the race hard in an effort to take the pink jersey. One-by-one the team peeled off after giving it their all on the famous Stelvio ascent. Jai Hindley followed the infernal pace set at the front by Ineos, marking Geoghegan Hart, as Wilco Kelderman dug deep behind. At the finish Hindley showed a clean pair of heels and unleashed a great uphill sprint to take the stage win, Team Sunweb’s Men’s program’s 16th of the year. Meanwhile, Kelderman showed true fighting spirit, crossing the line with enough time in hand to move into the Maglia Rosa; rounding off a great day for the team, doing the double as they take the stage and the overall race lead.
1 HINDLEY Jai Team Sunweb 6:03:03 100
2 GEOGHEGAN HART Tao INEOS Grenadiers ,, 40
3 BILBAO Pello Bahrain – McLaren 0:46 20
