The 2025 Giro d’Italia continued Thursday with stage 18 – a short and condensed 144-kilometer stage from Morbegno to Cesano Maderno. Morbegno is situated near Lake Como in Lombardy in northern Italy. Stage 18 would be contested in medium mountainous terrain and would feature two Category 3 climbs and one Category 2 climb, but the last 44 kilometers of the stage would be in somewhat flat terrain. The stage profile indicated it would be a typical breakaway stage of a third week in a Grand Tour. 

Look for breakaway hopefuls such as Gianni Moscon, Mads Pedersen, Wout van Aert, Olav Kooij, and Andrea Vendrame to engage in quests to achieve a memorable stage victory in stage 18, as the Giro approaches its final stages and conclusion on Sunday in Rome.

While the remaining general classification favorites such as Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) would likely use stage 18 to relax and recharge their batteries, some of the previous GC favorites who had lost significant time in the GC might use today’s opportunity to take part in a breakaway, which could lead to a stage win that could save their Giro and their reputation.

Stage 18 started in Morbegno under sunny skies and in warm weather conditions. EF Education-EasyPost team captain Richard Carapaz was celebrating his birthday as he was born on this day thirty-three years ago in Ecuador. Only eleven of the participating teams had won stages in the Giro so far, so the stage got off to a fast start as many teams and riders were eager to pursue the opportunities of the day.

The first thirty kilometers were dominated by many breakaway attempts as riders were eager to establish a lasting breakaway before the Parlasco climb (Category Two). Active riders at the front included Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal-QuickStep), Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain-Victorious), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon-AG2R), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), and Wout van Aert (Team Visma-Lease a Bike).

Approximately twenty riders had formed a lead of more than a minute before the Parlasco climb. Lucca Mozzato (Arkea B & B Hotels) and Dries de Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R) were leading the breakaway group onto the climb. Meanwhile, riders from Alpecin-Deceuninck were leading the chase effort in the main peloton.

The riders in the Giro passed by Lake Como and perhaps George Clooney, Madonna, Richard Branson, Ronaldinho, Donatella Versace, and other wealthy and famous people were using the opportunity to enjoy the Giro race.

Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) was forced to abandon this year’s Giro when 110 kilometers remained. Not only had a young team colleague allowed himself to seize the team captain role from Ayuso during the race – the Spanish rider had also been stung by a bee close to his right eye, which had caused significant swelling and pain. Ayuso deserved a relaxing vacation at Lake Como, but he likely wouldn’t have time for any such thing.

Christian Scaroni was the first rider to reach the summit of Parlasco and secured the maximum points for the best climber classification, in support of teammate Lorenzo Fortunato, who was leading the classification.

Ben Turner suffered a mechanical issue with his Pinarello bike and got dropped from the breakaway group, which now featured 36 riders. Today’s stage would likely prove the final chance for most breakaway specialists to shine in this year’s Giro. Fortunately for the riders in today’s breakaway, they had fought their way to a lead of 04:23 minutes with ninety kilometers remaining. 

Christian Scaroni again possessed remarkable power and was the first rider to reach the summit of Colle Balisio ahead of riders from VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizane. 

Mads Pedersen won the intermediate sprint in Galbiate with 72 kilometers to the finish line and had secured 24 points for the points classification so far in the stage.

The riders were now climbing the Ravellino – the Category 3 climb was the final categorized climb of the stage. 33 riders remained in the breakaway group, and they had fought their way to a lead of more than seven minutes over the main peloton.

Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ) attacked fellow breakaway riders Martin Marcellusi and Manuele Tarozzi of Team VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizane in the final uphill part of the stage before the downhill part and flat stretch to the finish line. 52 kilometers remained and the trio had an advantage of half a minute over the chasing riders in the main breakaway group. Meanwhile, a relaxed main peloton was spearheaded by riders from UAE Team Emirates and EF Education-EasyPost.

Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team sent riders to the front of the main peloton when forty kilometers of stage 18 remained. The speed got significantly increased because of the team’s initiative. At this point the front breakaway trio had an advantage of more than ten minutes over the main peloton.

The front trio got reeled in by the chasing breakaway group and the eleven riders carried on in united fashion as they raced towards the finish line in Cesano Maderno. The first breakaway group featured Nico Denz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Dries de Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R), Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek), Davide de Pretto (Jayco-Alula), Alex Edmondson (Picnic-PostNL), Mirco Maestri (Team Polti-VisitMalta), Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease a Bike), Larry Warbasse (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Filippo Magli, and Nicola Conci.

Twenty kilometers remained and a large second breakaway group was two minutes behind, while the peloton was almost eleven minutes back.

The Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe team was very eager to secure a stage victory after Primoz Roglic had abandoned the race. Nico Denz, therefore, launched a solo attack from the front group and the German rider formed a gap of twenty-five seconds.

Denz entered the finishing circuit alone on his Specialized S-Works bike. 

31-year-old Denz from Waldshut-Tiengen in Germany carried on his quest for a stage win in solo fashion and had a lead of 32 seconds when five kilometers remained of stage 18.

Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) launched a counterattack from the chase group four kilometers from the finish line. The other riders in the group closed down his attempt. Meanwhile, Denz continued to extend his advantage in front.

Nico Denz proved the strongest man on the day and crossed the finish line in Cesano Maderno in solo fashion as winner of stage 18 of this year’s Giro for Team Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe. Mirco Maestri finished in second place for Team Polti - Visit Malta by winning the sprint from the chase group ahead of Edward Planckaert of Alpecin-Deceuninck.

“This is probably the most emotional win of my career after we lost Primoz earlier in the race. When we lost Primoz, we also lost our dream,” stage winner Nico Denz told Roadcycling.com before being celebrated on the podium. 

“I’m sending greetings to my father at home in Germany. There was only this stage, which was a possible target stage for me, so I had to stay focused and give it my all on the day and put it all on one card. As it turned out, I succeeded,” Denz explained.

Isaac del Toro remains general classification leader in the 2025 Giro d’Italia following stage 18. Del Toro is now 41 seconds ahead of Richard Carapaz. Simon Yates is third, 51 seconds behind the Mexican race leader. Egan Bernal is sixth, Einer Rubio eighth, Adam Yates ninth, while Michael Storer completes the top ten, 07:46 minutes behind del Toro. Brandon McNulty is twelfth, while Thomas Pidcock is thirteenth.

The 2025 Giro d’Italia will continue Thursday with stage 19 – the stage will take the Giro d’Italia riders on a 166-kilometer ride from Biella to Champoluc. The stage will feature no less than three Category 1 climbs, as well as one Category 2 and one Category 3 climb. Stage 19 is expected to deliver a great battle between general classification favorites, including Simon Yates, Richard Carapaz, and Egan Bernal. 

It will be exciting to see who the strongest riders in stage 19 will be and who will advance in the general classification as the Giro approaches its final stages and conclusion on Sunday in Rome, where the Giro cyclists will greet the Pope and ride three kilometers in the streets of the Vatican.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete news and coverage from Giro d’Italia 2025.