NOS Wielrennen•vandaag, 17:05
Merlier is the best in bunch sprint for the second time and wins the eighteenth Giro stage
Tim Merlier has won the eighteenth stage of the Giro d’Italia. The Soudal Quick-Step rider was the best in the bunch sprint after 178 kilometers.
It is the second stage victory of this Giro for the 31-year-old Merlier. The Belgian was also the best in the bunch sprint in the second stage. Jonathan Milan finished second, Kaden Groves finished third.
The pink leader’s jersey remains in the hands of Tadej Pogacar, who started the stage with a lead of almost eight minutes. Only disaster seems to be able to stand in the way of final victory for the all-powerful Slovenian.
Three days of suffering
After three days of suffering in the mountains, the almost flat ride from Fiera di Primiero to Padova was a relief for the riders. An opportunity for the sprinters, especially for favorite Jonathan Milan. The 23-year-old Lidl-Trek rider has already won three sprint stages of this Giro.
But Milan did not position themselves well in the final phase and were locked in the bunch sprint in the winding final kilometer. He came pretty close, but lost his sprint train in the final corners and crossed the finish line in second.
Pro ShotsThe riders during the initial phase of the eighteenth Giro stage
Upon reaching the only categorized climb of the day, the Lamon, we had to wait for the first attack of the afternoon. The first breakaway group was formed halfway through the climb and consisted of Mirco Maestri, Mikkel Honoré, Andrea Pietrobon and Filippo Fiorelli.
Subclassification
On the descent, the foursome extended their lead to 2.5 minutes. The escapees knew that it was not feasible to lead the remaining 150 kilometers and focused on the sub-classifications for the intermediate sprints.
The lead steadily decreased to forty seconds and for a moment the peloton even seemed to overtake the leading group too early. There was still a hundred kilometers to the finish, and catching up with the leading group so early would have encouraged new attacks. The sprint teams wanted to prevent that.
It was Michael Valgren and Edoardo Affini who made an attempt shortly after each other. Only Affini’s attempt succeeded, who quickly joined the leading group.
Watch Affini’s powerful attack here:
Affini’s successful attack clearly came as a surprise to the sprint teams in the peloton, who responded by increasing the pace so as not to give the Italian too much space.
Winding final phase
With the final in sight, the leading group was caught up. The sprint trains had now been formed: a requirement for the winding final phase, with a sharp bend to the left and a sharp bend to the right less than a kilometer before the finish.
After that last corner the sprint violence would really start. Anyone who was not in the front train at that moment actually had no chance of victory.
That happened to Milan, who were one of the favorites for victory. The Italian lost sight of his sprint train and had to leave the victory to Merlier, despite a great comeback.
2024-05-23 15:05:24
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