Nico Denz delivered Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe a consolatory stage-win at the Giro d’Italia on Thursday will a bulldozing 17km attack out of the breakaway.
One minute later, Mirco Maestri (Polti VisitMalta) and Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Decenink) went two-three in a small group sprint after a short, sharp, transitional 18th stage.
After two huge brawls in the mountains, the GC fight went on pause Thursday.
Pink jersey Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) and closest GC rivals Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) rolled in together with the bunch, close to 14 minutes back on the stage-winner.
Del Toro and Co. will be seeing more than enough action Friday and Saturday in two huge, vert-packed stages through the Italian Alps.
Denz’s victory Thursday will provide some solace for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
The budding superteam’s quest for the pink jersey disintegrated when Jai Hindley and then Primož Roglič abandoned the race.
It’s also a rare piece of the spotlight for perennial domestique Denz, who’d not won since late 2023. The 31-year-old now counts three Giro d’Italia wins in a palmarès of just seven victories.
“This is the most emotional one, after losing Jai and Primož,” Denz said in his winner’s interview.
“We invested a lot in the team in this big goal with Roglič. At altitude for two months, three months away from home, I’ve not seen my wife and children,” he said. “When you lose a rider like Primoz, it’s like you lose a dream – like all this hard work is for nothing.
“Luckily, we turned around and could motivate ourselves, also with Giulio,” said Denz, referring to his teammate Pellizzarri, who is 7th overall.
Del Toro one day closer to Rome, but one teammate down after Ayuso abandon
It was another day safely ticked off for Del Toro, who will ride into the make-or-break mountain stages Friday and Saturday with a 41-second lead over next-best Carapaz.
However, the young Mexican will be without top UAE Emirates climber Juan Ayuso, who abandoned the stage Thursday.
The Spanish sensation was struggling with injury through the second week and was way out of GC. He was stung in the eye by a bee on Wednesday in what proved the final straw for his GC push.
Del Toro didn’t seem rattled by the two huge mountain stages to come.
“If I come with stress, nothing will be good,” he said after the stage. “The team is always there, we make jokes a lot. It’s nice.
“We take this day by day and enjoy.”
Giro d’Italia stage 18 results:
Mega-break gets away over hilly mid-section
Thursday’s stage was pure “transition.”
The 144km course barreled along a flat 30km out of the start in Morbegno, blasted over a series of lower category hills, and motored through a flat final 45km via a finishing circuit in Cesano Moderno.
With two huge mountain stages coming up next before a sprinter stage in Rome, stage 18 was the breakaway’s last chance.
The day’s humungous 35-rider escape got away over the mid-race hills, and it looked like a pick’n’mix of rider types.
Speedsters like Wout van Aert (Visma-LAB), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Decueninck) were in the mix with all-terrain vehicles like Denz, Daan Hoole, Mathias Vacek (both Lidl Trek), Diego Ulissi, and Christian Scaroni (both XDS Astana).
Even U.S. climber Larry Warbasse of Tudor Pro Cycling was there too.
The break was inevitably too big to work efficiently, and a blitz of attacks saw 11 riders go clear into the first of two super-technical circuits of Cesano Maderno. The 13km loop was loaded with close to 20 right-angle corners to make it a Giro d’Italia crit race.
Denz looked strong all through the first of the circuits and made his canny, race-winning move at 17km to go.
Final lap for @NicoDenz!! 28 seconds for the German rider! #GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/XlPhQbmlPy
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 29, 2025
The powerhouse German attacked through a series of tricky bends and the chasers left a few too many meters of a gap.
Once Denz had daylight, he was never seen again as he went on to execute a powering solo raid.
Denz hit the final 13km lap with a 25-second gap, and the chase group couldn’t collaborate as they “saved” for a sprint.
Hoole, Warbasse, and Dries de Bondt all tried to attack out of the pursuing group, but nothing would stick. The places of honor were decided with a small rider gallop of very disappointed riders.
Up next at the Giro d’Italia: First of two huge days in the Alps
Del Toro’s climbing legs will be reexamined Friday.
Stage 19 packs close to 5,000m ascent into just 166km of pure mountain pain.
Three sprawling cat.1 climbs through the middle of the stage will soften everybody’s legs before one final haul up and over the Antagnod. A 6km downhill dash will surely decide a stage that’s surely for Del Toro and his GC rivals.
And after that Sunday?
The infamous gravel climb of the Colle delle Finestre.