photo credits @ Giro d’Italia
Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep) took an impressive victory in today’s stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia in Pinerolo, after the the Italian rider managed to fight his way back into contention after being dropped during the final few hundred meters, to catch his teammate Gianluca Brambilla and Moreno Moser (Cannondale) and capture the stage honors with an unassailable sprint to the finish.
Meanwhile, race leader Steven Kruijswijk (Team LottoNl-Jumbo) as well-supported by his teammates during the day’s climbs, to where he was able to singularly cover a late attack from Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) on the final ascent, followed by a last attempt acceleration from Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) along the descent, to retain his hold on the maglia rosa.
Race Highlights
Trentin became distanced after Moser and Brambilla succeeded in riding clear of a 24-man group during the second category climb of the Pramartino.
From there, the duo proceeded to work well together and quickly build up a lead of around half a minute, as they crested the top of the climb.
However, Trentin, Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff), Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) and Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) were busy mounting a counter attack from behind along the descent.
A final short, challenging climb before the finish saw Moser and Brambilla attacking each other during the final kilometer, while Trentin rode in earnest to narrowed the gap.
With 500 meters to go, Trentin managed to catch and speed past his teammate and Moser to claim the stage honors in dramatic fashion.
Stage 18 Results ITA 1 TRENTIN, Matteo (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) 5:25:34 ITA 2 MOSER, Moreno (CANNONDALE) ITA 3 BRAMBILLA, Gianluca (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) ITA 4 MODOLO, Sacha (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 20 GER 5 ARNDT, Nikias (GIANT – ALPECIN) + 30 RUS 6 ROVNY, Ivan (TINKOFF) + 34 ITA 7 BUSATO, Matteo (WILIER TRIESTINA – SOUTHEAST) + 1:10 GER 8 KNEES, Christian (SKY) + 1:16 FRA 9 DOMONT, Axel (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:24 ITA 10 MALACARNE, Davide (ASTANA) + 4:28 ITA 11 OSS, Daniel (BMC RACING) ESP 12 AMEZQUETA MORENO, Julen (WILIER TRIESTINA – SOUTHEAST) RUS 13 BRUTT, Pavel (TINKOFF) + 5:07 SUI 14 KUENG, Stefan (BMC RACING) + 5:23 LTU 15 NAVARDAUSKAS, Ramunas (CANNONDALE) + 5:40 FRA 16 LE GAC, Olivier (FDJ) AUS 17 MCCARTHY, Jay (TINKOFF) SLO 18 MOHORIC, Matej (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 7:34 ITA 19 ZILIOLI, Gianfranco (NIPPO – VINI FANTINI) NED 20 TIMMER, Albert (GIANT – ALPECIN) + 7:51
General Classification after Stage 18 NED 1 KRUIJSWIJK, Steven (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) 73:50:37 COL 2 CHAVES RUBIO, Johan Esteban (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 3:00 ESP 3 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 3:23 ITA 4 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) + 4:43 RUS 5 ZAKARIN, Ilnur (KATUSHA) + 4:50 POL 6 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF) + 5:34 LUX 7 JUNGELS, Bob (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 7:57 CRC 8 AMADOR BIKKAZAKOVA, Andrey (MOVISTAR) + 8:53 ITA 9 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 10:05 BLR 10 SIUTSOU, Kanstantsin (DIMENSION DATA) + 11:15
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