2024 Giro d'Italia

106th edition: May 4 - 26, 2024
Stage 18: May 23

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Thursday, May 23: Stage 18, Fiera di Primiero - Padova (Padua), 178 km

Stage 18 map & profile | Stage 18 photos

Tim Merlier wins stage 18. RCS photo

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Weather at the finish city of Padova at 1:50 PM, local time: 23C (73F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the southwest at 8 km/hr (5 mph). There is a 10% chance of rain, growing to 40% at 4:00 PM. There was rain for a short while at the start.

The stage: This stage features a single, rather modest climb in the opening half of the route (the KOM of Lamon) followed by about 150 km of slightly downhill false flat. The roads are mostly straight with varying carriageway widths, interspersed with built-up areas and the usual traffic obstacles.

Last kilometers
The last flat kilometers are characterized by two bends in the last kilometer. The last wide bend leads into Prato della Valle. The finishing straight measures 450 m in length and 9 m in width.

There was rain early in the stage. RCS photo

The race: Cristian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan) did not start, leaving a starting peloton of 144 riders.

Here's the race organizer's stage 18 summary:

Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) has won Stage 18 of the 107th Giro d’Italia, the 178 km long Fiera di Primiero-Padova. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin – Deceuninck) finished second and third respectively.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) retains the Maglia Rosa.

Speaking seconds after the stage finish, the stage winner Tim Merlier said: “We tried to organise something from far out with Julian Alaphilippe. It was an important day. We were always in a good position. I was a bit surprised that the last kilometre was so fast. I found the moment to start my sprint. It was tight but I know I’m fast”.

Here's the report from stage winner Tim Merlier's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Tim Merlier delivered an out-of-this-world sprint on a tense and chaotic finish to hit an important career milestone – his 20th victory in the Soudal Quick-Step jersey, on the day we announced our contract extension with Castelli, who will remain the team’s partner until 2026.

Here's the rush to the line. RCS photo

Padova returned at the Giro d’Italia after 24 years, and with it, also the stunning Prato della Valle, one of the largest and most impressive squares in the world, which hosted the finish of stage 18. Coming after some difficult days in the mountains, the stage was a quiet one until the closing kilometers, when the riders began jostling for position. Julian Alaphilippe did a great job together with Luke Lamperti, stretching the field, before Bert Van Lerberghe came into action, ramping up the speed under the flamme rouge with Tim firmly in his wheel.

A series of tricky corners, the last of which came 300 meters from the line, made for a mad dash Thursday afternoon, but no matter how hectic things were, nothing could stop the 31-year-old Belgian from unleashing a phenomenal burst of sprint that saw him come through in the last moments and take by half a wheel his fourth Grand Tour stage victory.

“It’s my second victory here this year and my ninth of the season, so I obviously I am very happy. Things were hectic today, but the guys put me in a good position for the last kilometers, which were incredibly fast. Bert guided me through the penultimate corner, but then I lost a couple of positions as we entered the last corner. Despite this, I remained calm and confident, even if I had to come around after starting my sprint, and gave my best. At the start of the race, I said that I wanted to take more than a win here, and now that I’ve done that, I can say that my Giro is a successful one”, a beaming Tim said after picking up his 43rd pro win.

Complete results:

Photos

178 kilometers raced at an average speed of 47.312 km/hr

1	Tim Merlier	Soudal Quick-Step	3hr 45min 44sec
2	Jonathan Milan	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
3	Kaden Groves	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
4	Alberto Dainese	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
5	Stanislaw Aniolkowski	Cofidis	s.t.
6	Fernando Gaviria	Movistar	s.t.
7	Madis Mihkels	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
8	Caleb Ewan	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
9	Davide Ballerini	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
10	Sebastian Molano	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
11	Max Walscheid	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
12	Hugo Hofstetter	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
13	Laurence Pithie	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
14	Andrea Pasqualon	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
15	Enrico Zanoncello	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
16	Tobias Lund Andresen	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
17	Tim Van Dijke	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	s.t.
18	Giovanni Lonardi	Team Polti Kometa	s.t.
19	Donavan Grondin	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	s.t.
20	Lorenzo Milesi	Movistar	s.t.
21	Edoardo Zambanini	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
22	Francisco Muñoz	Team Polti Kometa	s.t.
23	Bastien Tronchon	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
24	Patrick Gamper	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
25	Kevin Vermaerke	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
26	Michael Hepburn	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
27	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
28	Daniel Martinez	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
29	Filippo Zana	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
30	Tadej Pogacar	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
31	Fabio Van Den Bossche	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
32	Gijs Leemreize	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
33	Davide Cimolai	Movistar	s.t.
34	Rui Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
35	Damien Touzé	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
36	Simone Consonni	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
37	Ben Swift	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
38	Lawrence Warbasse	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
39	Ben O'Connor	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
40	Ryan Mullen	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
41	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
42	Romain Bardet	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
43	Einer Rubio	Movistar	s.t.
44	Simon Clarke	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
45	Davide Piganzoli	Team Polti Kometa	s.t.
46	Antonio Tiberi	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
47	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
48	Thymen Arensman	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
49	Lilian Calmejane	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
50	Jan Hirt	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
51	Michael Storer	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
52	Jasha Sütterlin	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
53	Nicolas Debeaumarché	Cofidis	s.t.
54	Mirco Maestri	Team Polti Kometa	s.t.
55	Jasper Stuyven	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
56	Michel Ries	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	s.t.
57	Andrea Vendrame	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
58	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
59	Luca Covili	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
60	Enzo Paleni	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
61	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
62	Lorenzo Fortunato	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
63	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
64	Valentin Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
65	Simon Geschke	Cofidis	s.t.
66	Pelayo Sanchez	Movistar	s.t.
67	Henok Mulubrhan	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
68	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
69	Damiano Caruso	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
70	Domenico Pozzovivo	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
71	Jonas Koch	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
72	Albert Torres	Movistar	s.t.
73	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	s.t.
74	William Barta	Movistar	s.t.
75	Lucas Plapp	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
76	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	s.t.
77	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	s.t.
78	Max Schachmann	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
79	Alessandro Tonelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
80	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
81	Giovanni Aleotti	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
82	Nairo Quintana	Movistar	s.t.
83	Davide Bais	Team Polti Kometa	s.t.
84	Attila Valter	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	s.t.
85	Edward Theuns	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
86	Robin Froidevaux	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
87	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
88	Jhonnatan Narvaez	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
89	Bert Van Lerberghe	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
90	Andrea Pietrobon	Team Polti Kometa	28
91	Luke Lamperti	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
92	Matteo Fabbro	Team Polti Kometa	s.t.
93	Nicola Conci	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
94	Rafal Majka	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
95	Esteban Chaves	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
96	Lorenzo Germani	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
97	Giulio Pellizzari	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
98	Jan Tratnik	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	s.t.
99	Manuele Tarozzi	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
100	Filippo Fiorelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	@ 33sec
101	Ewen Costiou	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	0:36
102	Mattia Bais	Team Polti Kometa	0:39
103	Dries De Pooter	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
104	Mikkel Honore	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
105	Rainer Kepplinger	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
106	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	0:48
107	Martin Marcellusi	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	0:51
108	Alexander Cepeda	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
109	Marco Frigo	Israel-Premier Tech	0:57
110	Dion Smith	Intermarché-Wanty	0:59
111	Roel Van Sintmaartensdijk	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
112	Matteo Trentin	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:08
113	Quinten Hermans	Alpecin-Deceuninck	1:13
114	Edoardo Affini	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	1:17
115	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	1:19
116	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Deceuninck	1:23
117	Julian Alaphilippe	Soudal Quick-Step	1:28
118	Felix Grossschartner	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
119	Nick Schultz	Israel-Premier Tech	2:16
120	Chris Hamilton	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
121	Alan Riou	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	s.t.
122	Kevin Colleoni	Intermarché-Wanty	2:23
123	Andrea Bagioli	Lidl-Trek	2:26
124	Pieter Serry	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
125	Stefan De Bod	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
126	Mauri Vansevenant	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
127	Tobias Foss	INEOS Grenadiers	2:38
128	Georg Steinhauser	EF Education-EasyPost	3:06
129	Olivier Le Gac	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
130	Josef Cerný	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
131	Juan Pedro Lopez	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
132	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
133	Jimmy Janssens	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
134	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	3:53
135	Andrea Piccolo	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
136	Vegard Stake Laengen	UAE Team Emirates	4:29
137	Daan Hoole	Lidl-Trek	4:36
138	Domen Novak	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
139	Connor Swift	INEOS Grenadiers	4:40
140	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
141	Alessandro De Marchi	Jayco-AlUla	4:48
142	Mikkel Bjerg	UAE Team Emirates	6:51
143	Alexander Kamp	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
144	Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier	Lidl-Trek	s.t.

 

GC after stage 18:

• GC leader: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
• Mountains classification leader: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
• Points classification leader: Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
• Best young rider: Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious)
• Teams classification leader: Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale

2,851.2 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 42.376 km/hr

1	Tadej Pogacar	UAE Team Emirates	67hr 17min 2sec
2	Daniel Martinez	BORA-hansgrohe	@ 7min 42sec
3	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	8:04
4	Ben O'Connor	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	9:47
5	Antonio Tiberi	Bahrain Victorious	10:29
6	Thymen Arensman	INEOS Grenadiers	11:10
7	Romain Bardet	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	12:42
8	Einer Rubio	Movistar	13:33
9	Filippo Zana	Jayco-AlUla	13:52
10	Jan Hirt	Soudal Quick-Step	14:44
11	Lorenzo Fortunato	Astana Qazaqstan	16:37
12	Michael Storer	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	18:27
13	Davide Piganzoli	Team Polti Kometa	22:38
14	Simon Geschke	Cofidis	27:55
15	Luca Covili	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	31:56
16	Rafal Majka	UAE Team Emirates	33:44
17	Valentin Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	41:12
18	Nairo Quintana	Movistar	44:52
19	Damiano Caruso	Bahrain Victorious	44:55
20	Domenico Pozzovivo	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	46:25
21	Nicola Conci	Alpecin-Deceuninck	47:58
22	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	50:43
23	Attila Valter	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	54:06
24	Giovanni Aleotti	BORA-hansgrohe	57:53
25	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	57:54
26	Michel Ries	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	1:00:54
27	Jhonnatan Narvaez	INEOS Grenadiers	1:05:58
28	Kevin Vermaerke	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	1:06:00
29	Edoardo Zambanini	Bahrain Victorious	1:12:49
30	Mauri Vansevenant	Soudal Quick-Step	1:15:45
31	Juan Pedro Lopez	Lidl-Trek	1:21:59
32	Esteban Chaves	EF Education-EasyPost	1:24:13
33	Felix Grossschartner	UAE Team Emirates	1:33:10
34	Georg Steinhauser	EF Education-EasyPost	1:35:18
35	Lilian Calmejane	Intermarché-Wanty	1:40:15
36	Chris Hamilton	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	1:40:39
37	Max Schachmann	BORA-hansgrohe	1:42:24
38	Lawrence Warbasse	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	1:45:05
39	Jan Tratnik	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	1:52:16
40	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	1:54:14
41	Gijs Leemreize	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	1:54:20
42	Alessandro Tonelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	1:55:08
43	Marco Frigo	Israel-Premier Tech	1:57:31
44	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	1:59:36
45	Julian Alaphilippe	Soudal Quick-Step	1:59:52
46	Henok Mulubrhan	Astana Qazaqstan	2:09:12
47	Pelayo Sanchez	Movistar	2:10:43
48	William Barta	Movistar	2:15:19
49	Alessandro De Marchi	Jayco-AlUla	2:21:03
50	Quinten Hermans	Alpecin-Deceuninck	2:21:08
51	Nick Schultz	Israel-Premier Tech	2:21:17
52	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	2:21:29
53	Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier	Lidl-Trek	2:21:39
54	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	2:21:54
55	Andrea Vendrame	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	2:22:00
56	Mirco Maestri	Team Polti Kometa	2:23:16
57	Ben Swift	INEOS Grenadiers	2:23:33
58	Lucas Plapp	Jayco-AlUla	2:25:42
59	Enzo Paleni	Groupama-FDJ	2:26:20
60	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	2:26:58
61	Jasha Sütterlin	Bahrain Victorious	2:31:53
62	Giulio Pellizzari	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	2:34:25
63	Mattia Bais	Team Polti Kometa	2:41:16
64	Andrea Bagioli	Lidl-Trek	2:43:01
65	Mikkel Honore	EF Education-EasyPost	2:43:54
66	Albert Torres	Movistar	2:50:06
67	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	2:51:10
68	Rainer Kepplinger	Bahrain Victorious	2:52:07
69	Damien Touzé	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	2:58:48
70	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	3:00:45
71	Davide Ballerini	Astana Qazaqstan	3:03:31
72	Pieter Serry	Soudal Quick-Step	3:04:13
73	Alexander Cepeda	EF Education-EasyPost	3:05:39
74	Domen Novak	UAE Team Emirates	3:05:55
75	Filippo Fiorelli	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	3:07:50
76	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	3:09:59
77	Matteo Trentin	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	3:10:17
78	Davide Bais	Team Polti Kometa	3:10:41
79	Stefan De Bod	EF Education-EasyPost	3:12:43
80	Ewen Costiou	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	3:14:14
81	Tobias Foss	INEOS Grenadiers	3:18:33
82	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ	3:19:44
83	Andrea Pasqualon	Bahrain Victorious	3:21:51
84	Kaden Groves	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:23:08
85	Lorenzo Germani	Groupama-FDJ	3:24:59
86	Vegard Stake Laengen	UAE Team Emirates	3:25:41
87	Kevin Colleoni	Intermarché-Wanty	3:26:45
88	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	3:26:56
89	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:29:29
90	Patrick Gamper	BORA-hansgrohe	3:30:28
91	Connor Swift	INEOS Grenadiers	3:30:35
92	Dion Smith	Intermarché-Wanty	3:32:26
93	Bastien Tronchon	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	3:32:30
94	Martin Marcellusi	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	3:35:29
95	Matteo Fabbro	Team Polti Kometa	3:36:25
96	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	3:37:10
97	Simon Clarke	Israel-Premier Tech	3:39:37
98	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:39:55
99	Jasper Stuyven	Lidl-Trek	3:42:01
100	Andrea Piccolo	EF Education-EasyPost	3:42:08
101	Jonas Koch	BORA-hansgrohe	3:42:11
102	Lorenzo Milesi	Movistar	3:42:55
103	Jimmy Janssens	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:42:57
104	Laurence Pithie	Groupama-FDJ	3:43:49
105	Fabio Van Den Bossche	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:51:28
106	Alexander Kamp	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	3:55:41
107	Dries De Pooter	Intermarché-Wanty	3:56:19
108	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:57:58
109	Andrea Pietrobon	Team Polti Kometa	4:02:27
110	Roel Van Sintmaartensdijk	Intermarché-Wanty	4:03:08
111	Tim Van Dijke	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	4:05:47
112	Manuele Tarozzi	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	4:07:09
113	Madis Mihkels	Intermarché-Wanty	4:10:44
114	Mikkel Bjerg	UAE Team Emirates	4:10:52
115	Michael Hepburn	Jayco-AlUla	4:11:29
116	Hugo Hofstetter	Israel-Premier Tech	4:13:11
117	Alberto Dainese	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	4:15:31
118	Nicolas Debeaumarché	Cofidis	4:17:26
119	Jonathan Milan	Lidl-Trek	4:20:06
120	Donavan Grondin	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	4:20:49
121	Caleb Ewan	Jayco-AlUla	4:21:12
122	Luke Lamperti	Soudal Quick-Step	4:21:13
123	Edward Theuns	Lidl-Trek	4:22:03
124	Simone Consonni	Lidl-Trek	4:25:39
125	Enrico Zanoncello	VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè	4:26:03
126	Rui Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	4:27:37
127	Francisco Muñoz	Team Polti Kometa	4:28:25
128	Stanislaw Aniolkowski	Cofidis	4:31:46
129	Sebastian Molano	UAE Team Emirates	4:31:52
130	Edoardo Affini	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	4:32:21
131	Giovanni Lonardi	Team Polti Kometa	4:34:52
132	Ryan Mullen	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
133	Daan Hoole	Lidl-Trek	4:37:46
134	Max Walscheid	Jayco-AlUla	4:38:05
135	Olivier Le Gac	Groupama-FDJ	4:38:24
136	Bert Van Lerberghe	Soudal Quick-Step	4:41:31
137	Davide Cimolai	Movistar	4:42:00
138	Robin Froidevaux	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	4:43:15
139	Fernando Gaviria	Movistar	4:45:05
140	Tim Merlier	Soudal Quick-Step	4:47:25
141	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	4:48:19
142	Tobias Lund Andresen	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	4:50:36
143	Josef Cerný	Soudal Quick-Step	4:53:34
144	Alan Riou	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	5:03:39

 

Stage 18 map & profile:

Stage 18 map

Stage 18 profile

Stage 18 photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Stage 17 winner Georg Steinhauser

Points classification leader Jonathan Milan

Julian Alaphilippe

Tadej Pogacar during the opening ceremonies.

Early in the stage, race leader Tadej Pogacar racing in the rain.

Filippo Fiorelli leads a group.

A close one between Tim Merlier, Jonathan Milan & Kaden Groves.

The stage is indeed Tim Merlier's

Tadej Pogacar safely finished the stage.

Stage winner Tim Merlier

Tadej Pogacar has only three stages to go. In the distance you can see the Basilica of Saint Anthony.

A closer view of Mr. Pogacar.