Cycling: Matteo Trentin (Etixx-Quick Step) just won stage 18 of this year's Giro d'Italia. Out of a breakaway group of 24, he finally won the hilly section in front of Moreno Moser (Cannondale) and his teammate Gianluca Brambilla. The key to success was a tactical trick by the Etixx-Quick Step team, which, after two wins by Marcel Kittel and one win by Gianluca Brambilla, can celebrate their fourth stage win. After two stage victories in the Tour de France, Trentin can finally celebrate a day's success in the local Giro d'Italia. Nothing at all happened among the favorites in the overall classification, which could be due to the fact that there are still very difficult mountain stages ahead of us in the next two days.
24 drivers set themselves apart early on
With a distance of 240 km, today's 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia was the longest this year. The section from Muggiò to Pinerolo, classified as hilly, offered the escapees a good chance, as the initial 216 km could almost be described as flat. Only then should the 4,7 km long climb Pramartino be on the program. With an average incline of 10,5% and a maximum incline of 17%, the short mountain of the 2nd category was all the more difficult to assess. The summit was reached 19,5 km before the finish, followed by a descent and a small steep climb to the finish. It was clear early on in the race that a rider from the breakaway group would be raising their hands, as 24 riders broke away. Once again there was the breakaway king Daniel Oss (BMC), who after the two intermediate rankings today has 67 points in the sprint ranking, followed by Matteo Trentin (Etixx-Quick Step), who is also in today's group, with 48 points. The lead quickly increased to over ten minutes and later even to over 14 minutes without much resistance. While the leading group fought for the day's victory, the cycling fans in the main field expected an exciting fight for the overall rankings.
Etixx-Quick Step fooled Moser
Around 50 km from the finish, the first attacks came from the leading group when Matej Mohoric (Lampre-Merida), Roger Kluge (IAM), Olivier Le Gac (FDJ) and Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff) tried to break away. However, a few meters before the Pramartino climb, the last of them was caught again. Then an elimination race began, leaving only Moreno Moser (Cannondale) and Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-Quick Step) at the end. The two rode together to the summit, followed 28 seconds behind by Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) and Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff), then a further 12 seconds later by a quintet consisting of Matteo Trentin (Etixx-Quick Step), Axel Domont (Ag2r), Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida), Christian Knees (Sky) and Matteo Busato (Wilier Triestina-Southeast). The leading duo was initially able to extend their lead on the descent, while behind them Trentin and Modolo were able to catch up with the chasing duo Rovny and Arndt. As the final kilometers approached, Brambilla suddenly refused to cooperate at the front, knowing that his team-mate Trentin was closing in behind him. Moser therefore had to set the pace alone and complete most of the time in the wind. The team tactics of Etixx-Quick Step worked perfectly, because Trentin managed to catch up and in the end didn't give the competition a chance in the sprint. In the peloton, nothing happened among the favorites, since everyone probably wanted to take it easy for the next two difficult mountain stages.
Final result Giro d'Italia 2016 stage #18
Tour Locations | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Matteo Trentin | ITA | Etixx - Quick Step | 05:25:34 |
2 | Moreno Moser | ITA | Cannondale | |
3 | Gianluca Brambilla | ITA | Etixx - Quick Step | |
4 | Sacha Modolo | ITA | Lampre-Merida | 00:00:20 |
5 | Nickias Arndt | GER | Team Giant Alpecin | 00:00:30 |
6 | Ivan Rovny | RUS | Tinkoff | 00:00:34 |
7 | Matteo Busato | ITA | Wilier Triestina Southeast | 00:01:10 |
8 | Christian knees | GER | TeamSky | 00:01:16 |
9 | Axel Domont | FRA | AG2R La Mondiale | 00:01:24 |
10 | Davide Malacarne | ITA | Astana | 00:04:28 |
General classification Giro d'Italia 2016
Driver | Country | Team | Time | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Vincenzo Nibali | ITA | Astana | 86:32:49 |
2. | Stephen Chaves | COL | Orica GreenEDGE | 00:00:52 |
3. | Alejandro Valverde | ESP | Movistar | 00:01:17 |
4. | Steven Krujswijk | NED | LottoNL Jumbo | 00:01:50 |
5. | Rafal Mayka | POL | Tinkoff | 00:04:37 |
6. | Bob jungels | LUX | Etixx - Quick Step | 00:08:31 |
7. | Rigoberto Urán | COL | Cannondale | 00:11:47 |
8. | Andrew Amador | COL | Movistar | 00:13:21 |
9. | Darwin Atapuma | COL | BMC | 00:14:09 |
10. | Constantsin Siutsou | BLR | Cannondale | 00:16:20 |
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