Stage 18

The road

At the start

The sprinters' last chance

The Passo Giau shredded everything behind the leaders — Tiralongo has fallen to 4:13, Urán and Pozzovivo have climbed past him — but at the front Joaquim Rodríguez still leads Ryder Hesjedal by exactly thirty seconds. Sky lost Peter Kennaugh yesterday, leaving Mark Cavendish a lead-out man short. Today runs downhill out of the Dolomites to Vedelago, and it is the last bunch sprint of this Giro.

How it was won

1. 165 km to go

   Cavendish buys the intermediate

   Sky spend themselves closing the break down so their world champion can take the intermediate sprint points, with a mountain double-header and a time trial ahead where there will be none. Job done, they let the next move go.

2. 2At the line

   Guardini finally arrives

   Without Kennaugh the Sky train is a carriage short, and Eisel and Thomas ride themselves inside out. Thomas launches at five hundred metres, Cavendish rises out of the saddle — and a twenty-two-year-old from Pregnago goes up the right-hand side, past Ferrari, past Thomas, past the rainbow jersey. Andrea Guardini has waited three weeks for one chance.

The result