Giro d'Italia: Giro d'Italia stage #18: Van Garderen wins, Dumoulin sovereign

Cycling: Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) secured victory on stage 18 ahead of Mikel Landa (Sky) after a successful break away attempt. Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) finished together. However, the three favorites lost some time to the challengers, as they neutralized each other until tactics and attempts to stand came up.

The second royal stage of the Giro d'Italia 2017

The 17st stage proved to be a day of outliers. Today, cycling fans could look forward to the second queen stage of this year's Giro d'Italia. Five categorized mountains had to be climbed, the last of which was only four kilometers from the finish. Those who wanted to secure the mountain jersey had to be just as careful on this section as the class riders. One bad day and all hopes could be gone. Because in the first 85 kilometers, the riders climbed over 2.000 meters three times. Hardly a flat section can be found on this stage. The fact that the stage from Moena to Val Gardena (St. Ulrich) was only 137 kilometers long played into the hands of an exciting race. Because experience has shown that brevity is the key. In the case of shorter sections, things often get down to business much earlier.

Mikel Landa is busy collecting mountain points

Immediately after the sharp start, the first attacks were ridden. A leading group of 20 was able to break away. Amongst them were Mikel Landa (Sky) in mountain jersey, Omar Fraile (Dimension Data), Tejay van Garderen (BMC), Dario Cataldo (Astana) and Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac). Vincenzo Nibali sent a teammate into the group in Kanstantsin Siutsou (Bahrain-Merida), as did Nairo Quintana in Andrey Amador (Movistar). However, it was almost exclusively Landa's teammates Philip Deignan and Diego Rosa who ensured a high pace in the leading group. In the peloton, work has been done to isolate overall leader Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) as soon as possible. As a result, the fugitives only had a lead of a little over two minutes.

Tom Dumoulin isolated - Nairo Quintana & Vincenzo Nibali attack

As Team Sky slowed down, several attacks ensued. The group flew apart. The Movistar team also increased the pace in the field of favourites. Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) lost the connection. After Laurens Ten Dam also fell behind, Tom Dumoulin was actually without a team-mate with 60 kilometers to go. Nairo Quintana used this chance and made his first attack on the Gardena Pass. Nobody reacted. His helper Amador was waiting for him and pulled him up the mountain. Meanwhile, Tom Dumoulin had to set the pace himself. Vincenzo Nibali saw his chances dwindle and attacked as well. But Tom Dumoulin drove at a steady pace and caught up with his competitors before the summit. In the downhill Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) tried it with his teammate Ruben Plaza. Quintana docked, but this attack was also thwarted.

Standing attempts in the top 3 – Van Garderen beats Landa

As the favorites increased their pace, the lead of the remaining escapees around Mikel Landa was reduced to just 17 seconds. Two of Quintana's team-mates then took over the pace and let the breakaways pull back to over a minute. At the bottom of the final climb, Van Garderen and Landa broke away from their fellow riders. Around six kilometers from the finish, Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali tried again in vain. The three top riders neutralized each other completely and then even attempted to stand. As a result, Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r) were able to break away and catch up with the breakaway Jan Hirt (CCC Sprandi Polkowice). Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) were also simply let go. In front, Van Garderen secured victory ahead of Landa and Pinot. A little over a minute later, the trio of Dumoulin, Nibali and Quintana crossed the finish line. Of course, Tom Dumoulin remains in the pink jersey and has taken a huge step towards the title. Landa is now a whopping 81 points ahead in the mountain classification. The white jersey is now worn by Adam Yates, but the lead over Bob Jungels is not very large.

The result of the 18st stage of the 100th Giro d'Italia 2017

The overall standings of the 100th Giro d'Italia 2017 after 18 of 21 stages