Giro d'Italia: Thomas fends off Roglic attack - Kämna defends sixth place
Thomas Goldmann
· 25.05.2023
The battle for the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia 2023 is coming to a head. On the 18th stage, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) the overall leader Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), but was unable to overtake him.
Giro d'Italia 2023: Lennard Kämna still in sixth place
Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), who won the mountain finish on Monte Bondone, was not in the condition to compete with Roglic and Thomas and had to cede second place overall to the Slovenian. Lennard Kämna crossed the finish line in 14th place, 3:03 minutes behind the day's winner. The Bora-Hansgrohe professional his 6th place in the overall standings.
Geraint Thomas, who turned 37 on Thursday, was satisfied with how the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023 went. "Making up time on Almeida and not being left behind by Primoz (Roglic), that was a good day. I felt good. Primoz often changed the rhythm and I took some leads. I didn't know how he would feel. On the last two kilometres he really stepped on the gas again. So he was super strong," said the 2018 Tour de France winner.
The stage win went to Filippo Zana (Team Jayco-AlUla). The Italian champion was part of a seven-man breakaway group from which he escaped in the finale together with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and defeated the Frenchman in the sprint.
"I would like to thank my team for giving me this chance to get into the World Tour and now to ride the Giro d'Italia. I tried to stay on the bike with Pinot and realised that there are not many opportunities like this. I had a 50 per cent chance of winning and it turned out well for me," said Filippo Zana.
The top 10 of the 18th stage
- Filippo Zana (Team Jayco-AlUla) 4:25:12
- Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) +0:00
- Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) +0:50
- Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) +1:03
- Aurelien Paret-Peintre (AG2R-Citroën Team) +1:24
- Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) +1:24
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:56
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:56
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +2:17
- Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco-AlUla) +2:32
The current overall standings
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) 76:25:51
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +0:29
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +0:39
- Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco-AlUla) +3:39
- Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +3:51
- Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) +4:27
- Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) +4:43
- Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) +4:47
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) +4:53
- Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) +5:52
How the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023 went
It took a long time before a breakaway group was able to pull away from the peloton. It was not until the climb to the Passo della Crosetta, the first mountain of the day, that a clear race situation crystallised. Initially, Jumbo-Visma increased the pace and thinned out the peloton considerably. However, Primoz Roglic, the team's captain, stayed in the rear positions and did not make a good impression at first. As a result, the Dutch riders slowed down again.
As a result, five riders initially managed to pull out a substantial lead: Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Aurelien Paret-Peintre (AG2R-Citroën Team), Filippo Zana (Team Jayco-AlUla), Derek Gee and Marco Frigo (both Israel-Premier Tech). Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) and Vadim Pronskiy (Astana Qazaqstan Team) were able to catch up in the downhill.
Pinot takes the lead in the mountain classification
Pinot diligently collected mountain points on the way and took the lead with a total of 227 points from Ben Healy (EF Education EasyPost/164) in the battle for the Maglia Azzurra. Around nine kilometres before the finish, the leading group fell apart on the penultimate climb. Pinot forced the pace and only Zana was able to keep up. The Frenchman and the Italian decided the victory on the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023 between them. Pinot started the sprint around 200 metres before the finish, but Zana overtook him in the last 50 metres and celebrated his first stage win in a Grand Tour.
In the group for the pink jersey of Geraint Thomas, Jumbo-Visma took command on the penultimate climb. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) did the groundwork for Primoz Roglic's attack. Geraint Thomas reacted confidently and followed his rival. Behind him, Joao Almeida fought to catch up and was almost close again, but lost 21 seconds on the final climb to Roglic and Thomas, who crossed the finish line together. Lennard Kämna was dropped early on, but kept up his pace and caught up with some of his rivals.
