Giro d'Italia: Trentin wins from breakaway in Pinerolo

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Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep) capped an excellent day of racing at the Giro d’Italia with a thrilling stage win in Pinerolo. The Italian fought his way back in the closing stages after being dropped on the Pramartino to catch teammate Gianluca Brambilla and Moreno Moser (Cannondale) in the final few hundred metres before unleashing an unstoppable sprint.

The win marked Etixx-QuickStep’s fourth stage win in this year’s race while Trentin added his name to an illustrious list of stage winners in Pinerolo that includes Fausto Coppi.

Trentin’s chances of victory looked dead and buried when Moser and Brambilla – a winner on stage 8 and previous maglia rosa – skipped clear of a 24-man group on the second category climb of the Pramartino. The pair worked well together and built up a lead of around 30 seconds as they crested the top of the climb, as Trentin, Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff), Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) and Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) mounted a counter attack on the descent.

There was a short, brutish climb before the line and despite Moser and Brambilla attacking each other they were unable to gain an advantage.

As they dove into the final kilometre Moser was forced to work as Trentin narrowed the gap to just a few seconds on his own.

With 500 metres to go, the writing was on the wall and Trentin blew passed his teammate and a forlorn Moser to take the stage win in dramatic fashion.

In the race for the overall, maglia rosa Steven Kruijswijk (Team LottoNl-Jumbo) enjoyed a relatively calm day before Friday's and Saturday’s mountain double header.

The Dutchman was marshalled expertly by his team with Bram Tankink and Enrico Battaglin both prominent on the climbs. When Kruijswijk was eventually isolated, he marked a late but short move from Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) on the final ascent, and a final acceleration from Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) on the descent, to retain his lead.

With three stages remaining in the race, Kruijswijk leads Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) by three minutes, with Valverde a further 23 seconds in arrears. Nibali remains fourth, 4:43 of the maglia rosa.

Giro d'Italia stage 18 highlights video

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How it unfolded 

With two difficult and highly decisive stages in the mountains to come, the 18th stage of the Giro d’Italia to Pinerolo would always favour a break.

The stage, the longest in the race at 244km, with its flat start and single major ascent had last chance saloon written all over it for all the teams still without a win in this year’s race.

It was therefore no surprise when a group of 24 went clear in the opening hour.

Axel Domont (AG2R-La Mondiale), Davide Malacarne (Astana), Stefan Kung, Daniel Oss (BMC), Moreno Moser, Ramunas Navadauskas (Cannondale), Gianluca Brambilla, Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep), Olivier le Gac (FDJ), Andrey Solomennikov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Roger Kluge (IAM Cycling), Sacha Modolo, Matej Mohoric (Lampre-Merida), Pim Ligthart (Lotto-Soudal), Genki Yammamoto, Gianfranco Zilioli (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Nikias Arndt, Alberto Timmer (Giant-Alpecin), Christian Knees (Team Sky), Pavel Brutt, Jay McCarthy, Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff) and Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Wilier Triestina-Southeast), made the cut and once a gap was established order returned to the peloton with the team of the maglia rosa gently dictating the pace.

The 24, ample in ambition and firepower, established a lead that was insurmountable as the Pramartino, loomed into the horizon.

Only 4.6km in length but with 17 per cent slopes in placed, it provided the perfect backdrop and landscapes for attacks. There had been mild skirmishes from the break on the approach but it was Trentin who split the group first, setting up Brambilla and Moser, who pulled clear of the rest.

The pair worked well as they climbed towards the summit as the remnants of the field were scattered on the climb.

At the summit the Italian tandem had 28 seconds on Arndt, with Rovy, Modolo and Trentin separated by a few seconds.

The peloton were locked in a relative stalement some 14 minutes down with LottoNL content to keep the GC contenders under control and their race leader safe.

Up ahead Moser and Brambilla were evenly matched, with the Etixx rider undoubtedly the most confident having won stage 8 while Moser had only brought home won win since 2013.

The pair traded savage attacks on the final uncategorised climb all the while Trentin dispatched of his group and silently made his way across to the two leaders.

Moser was ushered to the front as they crested the climb as Brambilla sat back. It was as cruel to watch as it was enthralling as Trentin closed the gap to Moser. The Cannodale rider could only pull a double take as he saw an Etixx rider – just not the one he expected – swoop past and take the stage. Victory, again, for Etixx, while for Moser the wait for win goes on.

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