2018 Giro d'Italia Stage 18 Results & Recap
Stage 18 of the 2018 Giro d'Italia is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Schachmann victorious on stage 18\nBy Clara Beard
Maximilian Schachmann climbed to the biggest victory of his career today, topping Rubén Plaza (Israel Cycling Academy) and Mattia Cattaneo (Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec) atop the Prato Nervoso after almost 200 kilometres in the saddle, most of it in the breakaway.
The young German’s win is the fifth for Quick-Step Floors, and 36th for the highly successful Belgian team this season. Schachmann began attacking his 12 breakaway companions a few kilometers into the 15-kilometer final climb almost 15 minutes ahead of the maglia rosa group, creating two races – stage and GC - within a race this stage.
“We knew it was probably going to be a good day for a breakaway, although so far none had worked,” Schachmann said. “The first nine attackers went pretty early. I have to say a big thank you to Michael Morkov who took me on his wheel to jump as the last two riders to reach the front group. I knew I had quite good legs, so I tried to bring home the victory in a safe way. I tried to keep energy for the last few meters before the finish line. I knew the last two km would be fine for me. I didn’t panic when [Ruben] Plaza came across. He’s an experienced rider but I believed he’d be dropped again. With this victory, I’m already pretty close to the top of world cycling. It’s the most enjoyable part of my career but I know it’ll be harder in the future.”
Despite losing half of his lead to Dumoulin on the final climb, Yates remained positive in the press conference, saying he’s confident heading into the following two mountain stages. Yates faltered on the final climb, unable to follow Domenico Pozzovivo, Chris Froome and Tom Dumoulin’s pace a few kilometres from the finish line.
“Today it was an explosive big effort, which is not my forte,” Yates said. “After Dumoulin’s first acceleration, I looked at him to see how he was. When he went the second time, I couldn’t close the gap. I was tired. But I’m ok with it. I have no regret to have spent a lot of energy earlier in the Giro because this is what I needed to do. If I didn’t race so aggressively before, I would be behind Dumoulin. I collected almost 50 seconds in time bonuses – that’s more than my overall lead now. I only felt bad for one kilometre today. I’m still in the lead and the coming two mountain stages suit me much more than today’s.”\n \nTomorrow is a brutal stage starting in Venaria Reale and popping over four massive categorized climbs, including the Colle delle Finestre, the race’s only Cima Coppa. It will be here where the pink jersey is one or lost, and we can expect the GC contenders to come out in full force. After 184 km, the finale concludes on the category 1 climb up to Bardonecchia.
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