Maximilian Schachmann wins Stage 18 as Yates falters – Giro d’Italia

Giro d’Italia 2018

Stage 18

Britain’s Simon Yates saw his lead over Dutchman Tom Dumoulin halved to 28 seconds after being distanced near the top of the final climb to Prato Nevoso in Stage 18, won by the German youngster Max Schachmann from the break.

For the first time in the 101st edition of the Giro d’Italia, Mitchelton-Scott’s Yates lost time in a summit finish following a devastating attack by defending champion Dumoulin in the final two kilometres of the 198km stage from Abbiategrasso.

After a flurry of moves from some of the top 10 outsiders, Team Subweb’s Dumoulin whittled down the main pack with a surge of his own before latching onto a move from Britain’s Chris Froome inside the final kilometre.

Initially uninterested – and then unable – to follow Froome, Yates was caught cold as Dumoulin zipped clear with Italy’s Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain Merida). The 25-year-old rallied but crossed the line 28 seconds down, the first visible chinks in his pink armour having become apparent.

Schachmann, the brilliant Quick-Step Floors rider shining bright in his debut Grand Tour, proved the strongest of a 12-man break at the end of a slow-burning stage into the Alps.

Schachmann outfoxed Spanish veteran Ruben Plaza (Israel Cycling Academy) and Italy’s Mattia Cattaneo (Androni Giocattoli) to take his second win of the season and his bullish Quick-Step team’s fifth of the race.

Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) was the first of the big-name riders to cross the line, the white jersey coming home 10’48” down on Schachmann for eleventh place.

Pozzovivo led Dumoulin and Froome home just 15 seconds in arrears before the clock started counting down on Yates, who crossed the line alongside team-mate Mikel Nieve in 20th place.

Ahead of two high-altitude summit finishes in the Alps, Dumoulin slashed Yates’s lead to 28 seconds with third-place Pozzovivo at 2’43” and Froome still lurking at 3’22”.

For those who thought this race was over, the chickens have come home to roost.

From the fertile plains of the river Po to the snow-capped peaks of the Alps via the rolling Barolo vineyards of the Langhe hills, the first of three back-to-back summit finishes had beauty in abundance – but very little drama until Yates finally showed signs of his mortality in the maglia rosa.

Going into Thursday’s stage there was still 11,000 metres of climbing and three summit finishes on the horizon between the peloton and Rome – more than enough obstacles to dethrone the increasingly secure figure of Yates from the top of the standings. And so it proved.

With Schachmann already celebrating the biggest win of his career, defending champion Dumoulin drew first blood in the latest chapter of this intriguing battle for pink.

Attacks from Wout Poels (Team Sky) and white jersey rivals Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) and Richard Carapaz (Movistar) had softened the main pack before New Zealander George Bennett(LottoNL-Jumbo) made a dig which seemed to spark his fellow GC riders into action.

Dumoulin, Froome and Pozzovivo soon found Yates on the ropes and managed to bridge over to Poels and then stretch out their lead on the gentle gradient ideally suited to their distinct brand of power climbing.

“I was waiting until the moment and at two kilometres to go I tried to see what was possible,” Dumoulin said after a successful day in the office. “He [Yates] responded to my first attack. Then Froome attacked and I tried to follow Pozzovivo and Froome. I suddenly found out that he was dropped, so it was nice.

“Of course it’s a good day but the coming two stages are going to be different and much harder than today, so we’ll have to see.

Despite his wobble, Yates remained stoic and upbeat ahead of two stages filled with the kind of steeper climbs that suit his own punchy style, which had proved so strong up until this point of the race.

“I didn’t have great legs. I did the best I could. I’m still in front, so it’s all good,” he said.

“I’m ok. I was a little tired today, obviously, but it was only one climb today. I prefer stages like tomorrow, which are a little more difficult. We’ll see, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Finally: a breakaway that went the distance. And to think that the victor almost did not feature in the move.

While Germany’s Schachmann proved the strongest over the closing kilometres, the foundations for his win were laid hours earlier when he bridged over to an initial 10-man move alongside Danish team-mate Michael Morkov.

Once over, the duo joined Plaza, Cattaneo, Davide Ballerini (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), Christoph Pfingsten (Bora-Hansgrohe), Vyacheslav Kuznetsov (Katusha-Alpecin), Jos van Emden (LottoNL-Jumbo), Boy van Poppel (Trek-Segafredo), Marco Marcato (UAE Emirates), Giuseppe Fonzi and Alex Turrin (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia) in a move which held a maximum lead of 16 and a half minutes ahead of the decisive climb.

Before Dutchman Van Poppel made the first move with 19km remaining, Italian Ballerini had won both intermediate sprints to consolidate his position in that particular competition while Fonzi, the last-placed rider on GC, took the KOM points going over the Cat.4 climb to Novello.

Van Poppel’s move was the desperate throw of the dice from a non-climber anticipating his own downfall: both he and Fonzi were the only riders eventually reeled in by the main pack before the finish.

Aiming to be the oldest stage winner in the Giro’s history, 38-year-old Plaza yo-yoed off the front with a series of accelerations before Shachmann rode clear with Cattaneo inside the final 5km. Plaza and Pfingsten fought back – and the Spaniard rejoined the leaders under the kilometre-to-go banner.

Despite a couple of accelerations, Cattaneo was unable to match Schachmann’s speed once the 24-year-old made his decisive dig with a few hundred metres remaining. Plaza crossed the line 10 seconds down in second place with Cattaneo taking third a further six seconds back before the rest of the break finished in dribs and drabs.

“It’s great to win a stage in my first Grand Tour. I think everyone here agrees that it’s a really hard Giro and that makes it even nicer to be on top here,” Schachmann said before heaping the praise onto his team-mate Morkov.

“We are a great team and we have a great team spirit. I’d like to mention that a big part of this victory goes to Michael Morkov because the breakaway was already there, he took me on his wheel, he bridged over with me. It’s not the first time he’s helped me on this race. We share a room and he shares his experience with me. He’s a brilliant rider, he’s our brain, and he always plays a big, big part in our victories.”

Friday’s 184km Stage 19 from Venaria Reale to Bardonecchia features the Cima Coppi of the race – the gravel-track ride of the Colle delle Finestre – ahead of a second climb about 2,000m, to Sestriere, and the final punshing ascent of the Jafferau.

The final 7km climb is mostly over 10% and suits Yates to a tee – but the race leader may find himself under increased pressure as Dumoulin, Pozzovivo and Froome sniff blood. Stay tuned for more fireworks.