Giro d'Italia

Stage 18: Fiera Di Premiero - Padova

IT Italy Thursday 23 May 2024 171 km

A hat-trick of Soudal Quick-Step victories at Il Giro

A hat-trick of Soudal Quick-Step victories at Il Giro

Tim Merlier delivered an out-of-this-world sprint on a tense and chaotic finish to hit an important career milestone – his 20th victory in the Soudal Quick-Step jersey. This on the day that the raced passed the offices of Castelli, who we simultaneously announced will remain the team’s clothing partner until 2026.

Padova returned at the Giro d’Italia after exactly 24 years, and with it, also the stunning Prato della Valle, one of the largest and most impressive squares in the world, which hosted the finish of stage 18. Coming after some difficult days in the mountains, the stage was a quiet one until the closing kilometers, when the riders began jostling for position. Julian Alaphilippe did a great job together with Luke Lamperti, stretching the field, before Bert Van Lerberghe came into action, ramping up the speed under the flamme rouge with Tim firmly in his wheel.

A series of tricky corners, the last of which came 300 meters from the line, made for a mad dash Thursday afternoon, but no matter how hectic things were, nothing could stop the 31-year-old Belgian from unleashing a phenomenal burst of sprint that saw him come through in the last moments and take by half a wheel his fourth Grand Tour stage victory.

“It’s my second victory here this year and my ninth of the season, so obviously I am very happy. Things were hectic today, but the guys put me in a good position for the last kilometers, which were incredibly fast. Bert guided me through the penultimate corner, but then I lost a couple of positions as we entered the last corner. Despite this, I remained calm and confident, and even if I had to come around after starting my sprint, I trusted in my Specialised SL8 and Castelli sprint suit. At the start of the race, I said that I wanted to take more than a win here, and now that I’ve done it, I can say that my Giro is a successful one”, a beaming Tim said after picking up his 43rd pro win.

 

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images

                        ©Fabio Ferrari / Getty Images

Race details

1 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
3:45:44
2 Jonathan Milan
Lidl - Trek
0:00
3 Kaden Groves
Alpecin - Deceuninck
0:00
4 Alberto Dainese
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
0:00
5 Stanisław Aniołkowski
Cofidis
0:00
6 Fernando Gaviria Rendon
Movistar Team
0:00
7 Madis Mihkels
Intermarché - Wanty
0:00
8 Caleb Ewan
Team Jayco AlUla
0:00
9 Davide Ballerini
Astana Qazaqstan Team
0:00
10 Juan Sebastián Molano Benavides
UAE Team Emirates
0:00
50 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
0:00
89 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
0:00
91 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
0:28
117 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
1:28
124 Pieter Serry
Soudal Quick-Step
2:26
126 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
2:26
130 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
3:06
1 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
67:17:02
2 Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda
BORA - hansgrohe
7:42
3 Geraint Thomas
INEOS Grenadiers
8:04
4 Ben O'Connor
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
9:47
5 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
10:29
6 Thymen Arensman
INEOS Grenadiers
11:10
7 Romain Bardet
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
12:42
8 Einer Rubio Reyes
Movistar Team
13:33
9 Filippo Zana
Team Jayco AlUla
13:52
10 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
14:44
30 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
1:15:45
45 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
1:59:51
72 Pieter Serry
Soudal Quick-Step
3:04:13
122 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
4:21:13
136 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
4:41:31
140 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
4:47:25
143 Josef Černý
Soudal Quick-Step
4:53:34
1 Jonathan Milan
Lidl - Trek
327 pt
2 Kaden Groves
Alpecin - Deceuninck
200 pt
3 Tim Merlier
Soudal Quick-Step
143 pt
4 Filippo Fiorelli
VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè
116 pt
5 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
113 pt
6 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
111 pt
7 Andrea Pietrobon
Team Polti Kometa
111 pt
8 Mirco Maestri
Team Polti Kometa
72 pt
9 Davide Ballerini
Astana Qazaqstan Team
70 pt
10 Jhonatan Narváez Prado
INEOS Grenadiers
66 pt
66 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
10 pt
68 Jan Hirt
Soudal Quick-Step
9 pt
96 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
2 pt
991 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
-34 pt
1 Tadej Pogačar
UAE Team Emirates
230 pt
2 Giulio Pellizzari
VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè
148 pt
3 Georg Steinhauser
EF Education - EasyPost
130 pt
4 Nairo Quintana Rojas
Movistar Team
114 pt
5 Simon Geschke
Cofidis
78 pt
6 Julian Alaphilippe
Soudal Quick-Step
77 pt
7 Daniel Felipe Martínez Poveda
BORA - hansgrohe
72 pt
8 Valentin Paret-Peintre
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
55 pt
9 Romain Bardet
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
47 pt
10 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Egerzeigzaarhka
Lidl - Trek
42 pt
56 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
1 pt
991 Bert Van Lerberghe
Soudal Quick-Step
-2 pt
1 Antonio Tiberi
Bahrain - Victorious
67:27:31
2 Thymen Arensman
INEOS Grenadiers
0:41
3 Filippo Zana
Team Jayco AlUla
3:23
4 Davide Piganzoli
Team Polti Kometa
12:09
5 Valentin Paret-Peintre
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
30:43
6 Alex Baudin
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
40:14
7 Giovanni Aleotti
BORA - hansgrohe
47:24
8 Kevin Vermaerke
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
55:31
9 Edoardo Zambanini
Bahrain - Victorious
1:02:20
10 Mauri Vansevenant
Soudal Quick-Step
1:05:16
43 Luke Lamperti
Soudal Quick-Step
4:10:44
1 Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team 202:40:13
2 INEOS Grenadiers 16:46
3 UAE Team Emirates 34:11
4 Bahrain - Victorious 1:00:28
5 Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 1:16:22
6 Astana Qazaqstan Team 1:17:07
7 Movistar Team 1:33:36
8 BORA - hansgrohe 1:42:41
9 VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè 1:55:52
10 Soudal Quick-Step 2:02:07

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