Nico Denz boost Red Bull with Giro d'Italia stage 18 win
Nico Denz surged to victory on stage 18 of the Giro D'Italia, offering some respite for his struggling Red Bull team.
The German produced a powerful finish to take the win at Cesano Maderno, a much-needed injection of good news following the injury withdrawals of general classification hopefuls Jai Hindley and Primoz Roglic.
Denz, now a three-time stage winner at the Giro, moved with a group of 35 in the opening stages and held his spot as the breakaway thinned to 11. With just over 10 kilometres still to go, the 31-year-old made his move and found nobody able to match him.
Mirco Maestri, representing Polti-VisitMalta, won the battle for second around a minute further back and Edward Planckaert came in third for Alpecin-Deceuninck.
The GC riders in the peloton crossed almost 10 minutes after Denz stopped the clock, leaving Isaac Del Toro in possession of the pink jersey on behalf of UAE Team Emirates. Richard Carparaz (EF-Education EasyPost) and Great Britain's Simon Yates remains third (Team Visma).
Del Toro's team-mate Juan Ayuso was forced to abandon his own bid after a nasty bee sting around his eye added to existing knee problems, leaving him unable to race on.
The race now moves on to the climbs of the 166km Biella-Champoluc stage.
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"I just went all in [in the final game to serve three aces]. I think I served three lines, I'm pretty proud of that because it doesn't happen often. It's nice to win some points for free, for sure." Update: Date: 14:24 BST Title: Post Content: So, our first women's semi-final is set. Aryna Sabalenka will take on four-time champion at Roland Garros Iga Swiatek for a place in the final. Who will join them tomorrow? Update: Date: 14:19 BST Title: 'Swiatek had a relentless and ruthless approach' Content: Svitolina 1-6 5-7 Swiatek Annabel CroftFormer British number one on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 and BBC Sounds That was an intriguing match. I thought the first set was a lot closer than it ended up being. Some of those games were very long deuce-advantage games which Iga Swiatek ended up just coming out on top in. Elina Svitolina did acknowledge the crowd at the end but she was very quick to pick up her bags and leave the court. 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Update: Date: 14:15 BST Title: Swaitek two match points Content: Svitolina 1-6 5-6 Swiatek* Swiatek brings up two match points with an ace. Update: Date: 14:13 BST Title: Post Content: Svitolina 1-6 5-6 Swiatek* Svitolina is hanging in this match by a thread. She can't connect with Swiatek's backhand winner, then the Pole serves up an ace, the only one of the match so far, for a 30-0 lead. Update: Date: 14:11 BST Title: Swiatek breaks Content: Svitolina 1-6 5-6 Swiatek* Svitolina's looping shot falls outside of the lines and all of a sudden Swiatek has the break and is on top in set two. Back-to-back game wins at the crucial moment puts her in control and she's one game away from the semi-final. Update: Date: 14:10 BST Title: Swiatek break point Content: *Svitolina 1-6 5-5 Swiatek Svitolina is just losing her way a little here as she shows signs of frustration. She hits long before Swiatek puts the overhead smash away to bring up a break point. Update: Date: 14:09 BST Title: 'Svitolina's back is really up against the wall here' Content: *Svitolina 1-6 5-5 Swiatek Annabel CroftFormer British number one on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 and BBC Sounds Elina Svitolina has been knocking at the door in this second set, but she is also running out of time. It's getting to a crisis moment for her, whereas Iga Swiatek has a little bit of breathing space because she has a set under her belt. Swiatek can go after this next service game to really pressure Svitolina and go ahead. Svitolina's back is really up against the wall here. Hear radio commentary by clicking "Listen live" at the top of this page. Update: Date: 14:07 BST Title: Swiatek holds Content: *Svitolina 1-6 5-5 Swiatek Relief for Swiatek as Svitolina can only push her return of serve into the net. A cry of "come on!" from Swiatek as she takes the game. Opportunity missed for Svitolina? Update: Date: 14:05 BST Title: Post Content: Svitolina 1-6 5-4 Swiatek* Shot! 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Iga Swiatek, rather than applauding what a brilliant shot it was, was gesturing right down the other end to her box. She was irritated that she hadn't given Svitolina a forehand volley. That would have been a much more difficult shot. Update: Date: 13:59 BST Title: Svitolina holds to love Content: Svitolina 1-6 5-4 Swiatek* Svitolina hangs in the rally and comes forward for the overhead smash. She lets out of a big breath as she nails it for 30-0 then seals the hold to love with a couple of big serves. Update: Date: 13:55 BST Title: Swiatek holds Content: *Svitolina 1-6 4-4 Swiatek A couple of brilliant shots from Swiatek in this service game. A ferocious backhand winner and a couple of ripping forehands. The wind is causing a few problems out there, though, and Svitolina creeps back in before Swiatek sees out the hold to 30 with a forehand winner. Update: Date: 13:50 BST Title: 'A lot of Svitolina's titles haven't come at the higher echelons' Content: *Svitolina 1-6 3-3 Swiatek Abigail JohnsonCommentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 and BBC Sounds As much as Iga Swiatek is seven years the younger out here, she does have a fair bit more experience of coming through in the back-end of tournaments compared to her opponent. I feel like Elina Svitolina's history at Roland Garros is a little bit of a snapshot of her career as a whole. A lot of her titles haven't come at the higher echelons of the sport, she is more a player that you can bank on to come through the matches she should be winning. She's made a tremendous career out of that, but here at Roland Garros she has lost 10 of her last 11 matches against players ranked in the top-20 at the time.
