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After two brutally robust mountain days, made even tougher by harsh climate, the Giro d’Italia peloton will lastly get some respite as they tackle a flat transition stage within the last week with just one class 4 ascent in Lamon.
The route was lengthened from 166 to 178km, nonetheless, including the Intergiro dash in Villorba to associate with the 2 intermediate sprints in Valdobbiadene and Martellago.
Racing will roll out from Fiera di primiero at 13:05 CEST earlier than heading south in direction of the route of Venice and going by means of Treviso, then turning immediately from the shoreline inland to Padova within the Veneto area.
These factors will enable the sprinters to indicate their intent and presumably rating factors within the maglia ciclamino competitors however as we have seen all through the race, they could be higher off preserving their powder dry till the finale.
Even with such troublesome climbing days within the legs, the dash groups will do their very best to make sure no break can steal the day having waited 5 phases for his or her subsequent alternative. Expect the likes of Lidl-Trek, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Soudal Quick-Step to be probably the most lively all through the day.
Their sprinters are Jonathan Milan, Kaden Groves and Tim Merlier respectively, with the previous being probably the most profitable quick man on the 2024 Giro having taken three wins.
Lidl-Trek and Milan would be the riders to look at within the finale with the most effective lead-out practice and final man Simone Consonni additionally being in flying type, but in addition look out for the likes of Alberto Dainese (Tudor), who’s all the time good at late Giro sprints when the bunch is drained, Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) alongside the three talked about above.
Stage 18 Sprints
- Intermediate dash, km. 67.9
- Intergiro bonus dash, km. 106.8
- Time bonus dash, km. 131.5