Place Name: Prato Della Valle
Address: Prato Della Valle 71, 35123 Padova Padua, Italy
Details: May 23, 2024
The route led the riders out of the mountains and onto the Venetian plain. Rain chased them down the valley causing splits in the peloton as the break tried to get established. Sprinters teams, namely Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quickstep, were very tight with who they allowed in the break. Edoardo Affini of Visma-Lease a Bike tried on a number of occasions but he was marked each time. Mikkel Honoré of EF Education EasyPost, Andrea Pietrobon and Mirco Maestri of Polti-Kometa, and Filippo Fiorelli of Bardiani CSF-Faizanè got away on the only categorized climb and built their advantage to 2 minutes 30 seconds. The sprint teams picked up the pace and quickly brought the gap down. With 60KM to go, the gap was down to 30 seconds and Affini attacked again, this time bridging to the break to make five riders up front. The break was kept at 20 seconds from that point on but they managed to stay in front until 10KM to go. The sprint teams all took their turn at the front to fight for position. Jonathan Milan lost his Lidl-Trek train and set in 20th place through the last corner at 400M. Simone Consonni led through the corner but slowed when he realized Milan was off the wheel. That lull in the speed allowed Movistar to pick it back up. Hugo Hofstetter of Israel-Premier Tech was first to launch the sprint with Alberto Dainese of Tudor Pro Cycling in the wheel. The road opened up wide with riders taking up every meter. Across the line, there were four all within half a bike length. On the right side of the road was Tim Merlier of Soudal Quickstep who took the win. Next was Milan who made up a lot of ground but fell just short. Kaden Groves of Alpecin-Deceuninck was next in third, just ahead of Dianese.
Tags: Giro d'Italia, 2024, May, Stage 18, Giro d'Italia 2024, Fiera di Primiero, Padova, Edoardo Affini, Mikkel Honoré, Andrea Pietrobon, Mirco Maestri, Filippo Fiorelli, Jonathan Milan, Simone Consonni, Hugo Hofstetter, Alberto Dainese, Tim Merlier, Kaden Groves