BARCELONA, 26 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Belgian cyclist Dries de Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) has won this Thursday the eighteenth stage of the Giro d’Italia, disputed between Borgo Valsugana and Treviso over 156 kilometers, by overcoming his three breakaway companions and also knocking down a peloton that took a long time to put the batteries and could not with the escape.
De Bondt, who was seventh in Cuneo in this Giro, once again caught a good breakaway and together with Edoardo Affini (Jumbo-Visma), Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) and Davide Gabburo (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) beat a confident squad that was left with honey on their lips. And in the final sprint, the Belgian had more legs than Affini and, surprisingly, than a Cort who seemed to be the favourite.
In a day that the hitherto fourth-placed Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) did not take from the start, after testing positive for coronavirus and with flu-like symptoms, the peloton broke into several pieces in that fast and late pursuit of the escape. Among the victims, the Spanish ‘Juanpe’ López (Trek-Segafredo), now ‘maglia bianca’ and before ‘maglia rosa’ of the Giro.