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Giro d'Italia Stage 18 preview: Penultimate chance for sprinters ahead of weekend GC showdown
Giro d'Italia Stage 18 preview: Penultimate chance for sprinters ahead of weekend GC showdown

The Independent

time29-05-2025

  • General
  • The Independent

Giro d'Italia Stage 18 preview: Penultimate chance for sprinters ahead of weekend GC showdown

After three brutal days in the mountains the peloton gets something of a break on stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia, with another mountainous pair of stages still to come after today. It's (comparatively) short and sweet today, 144km from Morbegno in Lombardy to Cesano Maderno, and it's another one of these stages with a few climbs in the first half before a long, flat run-in to an expected bunch sprint. It's the penultimate chance for the sprinters to take a win at this Giro, with the last opportunity on the streets of Rome on the final day, so plenty of teams will be particular desperate to get into position today and maximise their chances. Three categorised climbs are crammed into 50km, with the first coming 29km in. It's the toughest of the day, the cat-two at Parlasco, 7.6km long and averaging 6.2% with a punchy section topping out at 11%. That's followed by a pair of intermediate sprints either side of the cat-three at Colle Balisio before another cat-three at Ravellino. After that the riders head onto a short descent leading into the day's Red Bull kilometre, another positioned at the top of an unclassified rise, this time at Sirtori. From there it's either flat or downhill all the way to Cesano Maderno, terrain that the sprinters' teams should find easy to control proceedings on - but with this stage so late in the race and plenty of teams still without a win, we could be in for a surprise should an opportunistic breakaway get free. Route map and profile Start time Stage 18 is set to start at 1.50pm local time (12.50pm BST) and finish at 5.30pm (4.30pm BST). Prediction Judging by the Giro so far it's unlikely that any breakaway will be allowed enough leeway to contest the stage win, with the flat final 50km teeing this up for another bunch sprint - although Kasper Asgreen proved on stage 14 that you underestimate the breakaway in the second half of a Grand Tour at your peril. Paul Magnier's departure from the race means that Sam Bennett is the biggest name still without a win, but Olav Kooij demonstrated that he's the man to beat with his blistering sprint on stage 12. We're backing him to secure a second stage win, with Kaden Groves and Casper van Uden the best-placed of the challengers with one win apiece. Both have the form to take a second too.

Ineos Grenadiers close to new sponsor deal to restore their fortunes
Ineos Grenadiers close to new sponsor deal to restore their fortunes

Times

time12-05-2025

  • Business
  • Times

Ineos Grenadiers close to new sponsor deal to restore their fortunes

Ineos Grenadiers are close to agreeing a multimillion-pound sponsorship deal with TotalEnergies that insiders believe will restore the team's status as one of the strongest in the peloton. The agreement will also enable Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Ineos chairman, to make further savings across his sports portfolio as he focuses more of his attention on his co-ownership of Manchester United. But the partnership between Ineos and TotalEnergies, another petrochemicals giant, is seen as an essential step in securing the investment required for the cycling team to become more competitive in a men's peloton now being dominated by Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike, the team of Jonas Vingegaard. Ratcliffe spends about £40million a year on the cycling team he bought from

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