Belgian sprinter Dries De Bondt won the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia. He accelerated like no one else in the final stretch and beat his rivals, the Italian Edoardo Affini and the Danish Magnus Cort, who completed the podium. Afternoon of unexpected turns because, shortly after the start, it was learned that Joao Almeida, who yesterday lost practically all his chances of winning in the mountains, announced that he is leaving the competition after testing positive for Covid. Hindley, second classified, had technical problems (although without repercussion on the classification) and Mikel Landa is preparing for his final assault on the leadership of Carapaz. There are only three stages left.

The peloton breathes easy, relieved after the tortuous passage through the Alps.

Transition stage, flat and bucolic, hunting ground for runners. Not all the bullets were right, however, and it was the brave ones, those who break strategies, those who put curves on the plain, who stepped on the accelerator.

Juanpe López, after wearing the pink for ten stages, continues to decline. The Spaniard has not managed to stay at the top of the general classification and on the road between Borgo-Vulsugana and Treviso, 151 kilometers northwest of the boot, near Venice, he continued this trend and lost about two minutes.

Nervous day also for the Australian Jai Hindley, the main pursuer of Carapaz, leader of the Giro. The one from the Antipodes suffered technical problems in the last kilometers, although he finally kept the three-second gap in the general classification with the Ecuadorian. Tomorrow the hillside returns, two third category ports, which seem decisive for the outcome of the Giro.