Nico Denz the strongest in the breakaway in stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia in which Juan Ayuso abandoned

Quiet day in terms of the fight for the general classification of the Giro d'Italia on a day when Juan Ayuso, who had everything go wrong that could go wrong in a race he had prepared meticulously for, ended up putting his foot down affected by an insect bite in one eye during yesterday's stage, which barely allowed him to see.

Juan Ayuso heads home while Nico Denz saves the Giro for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe

Transition stage between the two mountain blocks that make up the last week of the Giro d'Italia. A day through the Lombardy region of just 144 kilometers between Morbegno and Cesano Maderno, on the outskirts of Milan. A day with a profile conducive to a breakaway, divided into three clear sections: the first 30 kilometers, completely flat along Lake Como, a middle section of medium mountain until reaching the Po plain in the surroundings of Milan, and a final urban circuit in the arrival town.

As is usual in this type of stages in the third week of the Grand Tours, when the teams with sprinters are too tired to control the race, attacks occurred repeatedly in the initial part until a large breakaway of 30 cyclists was formed, with fast men like Kaden Groves and Mads Pedersen trying to seek a victory that would be difficult to achieve from behind.

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However, the news of the day was the insect bite suffered by Juan Ayuso throughout yesterday's stage, which caused him to lose more than 30 minutes at the finish line. An incident that made him appear in the pre-stage interviews with a more boxer-like appearance than that of a cyclist. The Alicante rider would try to salvage the day with the intention of shining in the last two mountain stages. It could not be, and after the first hour on the road, coinciding with the ascent to the first climb of the day, Ayuso abandoned the race, leaving the Giro d'Italia with the abandonment of the, a priori, main favorites for the final victory.

With the breakaway consolidated and no dangerous rider in it, the peloton took a virtual rest day, allowing the gap to grow continuously, reaching beyond 10 minutes.

Only the stage winner was left to be decided, with the fastest riders being the favorites, namely Groves and Pedersen, although not ruling out Wout van Aert who managed to infiltrate another breakaway or Mathias Vacek who had faded in the last few stages after a phenomenal start to the Giro d'Italia.

However, as they reached the final circuit, a breakaway group formed with Daan Hoole, Dylan van Baarle, Mathias Vacek, Dries de Bondt, and Nico Denz as the most prominent riders. A breakaway within the breakaway that soon began to gain distance from the rest until, prior to the second of the three passes through the finish line, taking risks in the final corners, Nico Denz used his power and skill to create a gap that no one could close. 10, 20, 30 seconds and despite there being more than 10 kilometers to go, the race was already decided in favor of the powerful German cyclist, thus saving the day for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, who came to the Giro d'Italia with the intention of winning the general classification.

Stage 18 Classification

1. Nico Denz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) 3h12'07''
2. Mirco Maestri (Polti-Visit Malta) +1'01
3. Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1'01
4. Filippo Magli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane) +1'01
5. Alex Edmonson (Picnic-PostNL) +1'01
6. Dries de Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +1'01
7. Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) +1'01
8. Davide de Pretto (Jayco-AlUla) +1'01
9. Nicola Conci (XDS-Astana) +1'01
10. Larry Warbasse (Tudor) +1'01

General Classification

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 65h30'34''
2. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +34''
3. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +51''
4. Derek Gee (Israel-PremierTech) +1'57''
5. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +3'06''
6. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +4'43''
7. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +5'02''
8. Einer Rubio (Movistar) +6'09''
9. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +7'45''
10. Michael Storer (Tudor) +7'46''