Nico Denz cheers the third stage win at Giro d'Italia!

Nico Denz cheers the third stage win at Giro d'Italia!

Morbegno, Italien - On May 29, 2025, the 18th stage of the Giro d’Italia took place, which led from Morbegno to Cesano Maderno over a distance of 144 kilometers. Nico Denz from Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe was able to prevail in this stage with an impressive trial test and triumphed in this emotional race with a lead of 61 seconds ahead of Mirco Maestri (ITA) and Edward Planckaert. This was the third stage win at the Giro after achieving two successes in 2023. According to krone.at, the main field of the favorites on the overall victory gives its strength and reached the goal with almost 14 minutes behind.

The stage was shaped by attacks, especially on the increase in parlasco. Denz initially belonged to a larger group of 35 drivers, which was able to settle in the hilly initial phase. Finally, a smaller group of outlets formed from which Denz was only 19 kilometers before the finish. The victory came in a time of 3:12:07 hours, which made it clear that the Sprinter teams could not intervene on this day, while Denz used the favor of the hour to secure his triumph. Cycllingnews.com reports that the next stage, which will lead over 166 kilometers from Biella to Champoluc and includes three mountains of the first category.

overall ranking and failures

In the overall ranking, Isaac del Toro (Mex) remains at the top, followed by Richard Carapaz (ECU) and Simon Yates (GbR). Del Toro currently has a lead of 41 seconds to Carapaz and 51 seconds on Yates. Surprisingly, Juan Ayuso (ESP) gave up the race after suffering a painful bee sting that affected his view. These incidents show how quickly the events can change during the race, especially under the demanding conditions of Giro d’Italia, which has been an important event in road cycling since 1909 and is one of the Grand Tours, next to the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, like Wikipedia explained.

With the upcoming increase in the overall ranking and the difficult conditions of the upcoming stages, drivers have to adapt their tactics. Following his victory, Denz expressed that this triumph was particularly important because his team's chances had dropped to the overall victory after the team captains Jai Hindley and Primož Roglič had to look back on injuries. However, this victory brings a breath of fresh air to the morality of the Red Bull Bora team and strengthens the tension before the decisive coming stages.

The overall ranking is as follows: