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Briton Tao Geoghegan Hart launched himself straight into the fray to win the Giro d’Italia after finishing a magnificent second on a dramatic stage 18.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider fought superbly on the Stelvio Pass, the toughest climb of the race with a maximum of 2,757m, to make up for more than two minutes in the general classification.
Geoghegan Hart crossed the line just behind Sunweb’s Jai Hindley.
The Brit is behind the new leader, Wilco Kelderman of Sunweb, by just 15 seconds.
Joao Almeida lost the pink jersey when he fell to the Stelvio after first Sunweb and then Ineos Grenadiers pushed the pace around the bends of the mighty climb in the Alps.
Kelderman’s teammate Hindley is in second place, 12 seconds behind, with Geoghegan Hart in third.
A new star is born
Not for the first time, the Stelvio opened wide a famous and unpredictable race.
With some 50km to go, as the cyclists climbed the famous climb near Bormio on the Italian-Swiss border, the main contenders began to suffer from the cold temperatures.
First, Deceuninck-Quick Step’s Almeida, who had had the pink leader’s jersey since stage three, started to fall at the end of the pack and eventually fell as Sunweb felt like he was struggling and picked up the pace even more.
But as Ineos came together to set the pace, new leader Kelderman began to lose the wheels of 25-year-old Geoghegan Hart, his Ineos teammate Rohan Dennis and Hindley.
Former Australian time trial world champion Dennis led the rest of the effort on the remaining kilometers of the famous 25km climb, as asphalt ribbons snaked around the snow-capped mountain.
Hindley, the second Australian of the trio, even nearly fell off his bike at one point trying to put on a jacket, while briefly riding uphill without hands, before the icy descent.
Geoghegan Hart took over as the three descended, keeping his nerve brilliantly over the streams of melting snow.
Dennis fell when Hindley and Geoghegan Hart attacked the final climb, with Hindley finishing the strongest while Geoghegan Hart did most of the work in the later stages.
Ineos season could be saved
East London Geoghegan Hart is known for being a promising talent and talented climber, but Ineos hoped they would only have to fight for stage wins after losing to race favorite and team leader Geraint Thomas.
The Welshman crashed on stage three when a loose drink bottle got stuck under his front wheel, leading to a broken pelvis and ending his season.
Geoghegan Hart won stage 15 over Piancavallo and stayed in touch in the overall standings despite being more than three minutes behind.
He has shown more strength than all the leaders, including Kelderman, who at one point looked like he couldn’t take the overall lead, but rallied before the final climb.
Of the three closest in dispute, Geoghegan Hart is believed to be marginally the best climber, as the race heads into another battle in the mountains over Sestriere on Saturday before a final day time trial in Milan.
And without Kelderman and Hindley big-name time trialists, everything is at stake for the final days.
General classification after stage 18
1. Wilco Kelderman (Ned / Sunweb) 77 hours 46 minutes 56 seconds
2. Jai Hindley (Aus / Sunweb) + 12 seconds
3. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB / Ineos Grenadiers) + 15 seconds
4. Pello Bilbao (Spa / Bahrain-McLaren) + 1 minute 19 seconds
5. Joao Almeida (By / Deceuninck-Quick-Step) + 2mins 16secs
6. Jakob Fuglsang (Den / Astana) + 3 minutes 59 seconds
7. Patrick Konrad (Aut / Bora-Hansgrohe) + 5 minutes and 40 seconds
8. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita / Trek-Segafredo) + 5 minutes 47 seconds
9. Masquerade (Ita / Deceuninck-Quick-Step) + 6mins 46secs
10. Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut / Bahrain-McLaren) + 7 minutes 23 seconds
More to follow.
