Team Liquigas-Cannondale's Eros Capecchi of Italy won a three-way sprint to the line to take the 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Thursday, while Alberto Contador finished safely in the main pack to protect his overall lead.

Capecchi won the 152-kilometer (93-mile) stage that began in Morbegno in 3 hours, 20 minutes, 38 seconds after he attacked off the final bend to race across the line in first place and win his first ever grand tour stage.

"It's been a difficult Giro for me up to now," Capecchi commented and continued "I haven't succeeded in going as well as I wanted to, but now this is an uncontrollable joy."

Long time leader Marco Pinotti was second and Kevin Seeldrayers third in the same time.

"I had to cycle faster than I have so far in the Giro," Pinotti said and added "I knew I had to be brave and back myself because no one else was taking the initiative."

Contador finished in 41st place among the following pack, 6:04 behind Capecchi. The Spaniard leads the overall standings with a time of 71 hours, 45 minutes, 9 seconds, and maintained his advantage of 4:58 over second-place Michele Scarponi.

"It was a good day and the team did well," Contador said. "We controlled our racing and didn't let the breakaway group get too far ahead."

The final trio emerged from a larger break on the ascent of the Passo di Ganda, whose summit was about 30 kilometers from the finish in San Pellegrino Terme.

The trio took turns to test each other over the final 3K, with Pinotto doing the majority of the work. But he was unable to open up a big enough lead in the final sections, and Capecchi waited patiently for his chance to attack.

Riders return to the mountains on Friday with a 209-kilometer (129-mile) stage from Bergamo to Macugnaga that features two major climbs.

The 21-stage Giro d'Italia finishes in Milan on May 29.

You'll find complete results and more photos from stage 18 of the Giro here.

Watch daily video highlights from the 2011 Giro d'Italia in the video section here on Roadcycling.com.

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