German Denz solos to Giro stage 18 win
Nico Denz won stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia on Thursday as the German rider rode solo to victory in the final stages of the 144 km ride from Morbegno to Cesano Maderno while overall leader Isaac del Toro retained his pink jersey.
In the shortest racing stage of this year's Giro, Denz was part of a breakaway group of 11 riders and the Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe rider attacked with 11km to go on the final flat section of the stage.
The 31-year-old held a 32-second lead with five kilometres left and by the time he crossed the finish line with his arms outstretched, he had finished a minute ahead of the chasing pack for the third Giro stage win of his career.
Victory allowed the team to celebrate a first stage win at this year's Giro after they had seen pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic abandon the race on Tuesday following a crash in treacherous conditions in stage 16.
Team Polti's Mirco Maestri finished second after beating Edward Planckaert of Alpecin-Deceuninck in the sprint. REUTERS
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