Esteban Chaves took an emotional win today after a war of attrition broke out among the breakaway group on the day’s final climb of San Martino di Castrozza.
Things in the GC battle remain mostly unchanged, Astana’s Miguel Angel Lopez was the only General Classification rider to steal any time. Lopez took about 45 seconds off of his rivals while race leader Richard Carapaz crossed the line with Vincenzo Nibali and Primoz Roglic at his side.
Lopez is now within shooting distance of fifth place but is still five minutes off the race lead with only one mountain stage left.
Stage Win
Chaves made his winning move with 2km to go, attacking a reduced group from the breakaway to ride solo to the finish line. Before his big move, further down the mountain, he had already slowly reduced the break with multiple attacks.
He was embraced by his parents at the finish as he took an emotional third victory in the Giro and Mitchelton-Scott’s first of the 2019 edition of the race. Chaves parents celebrating him on the podium was incredibly wholesome
It reminded me of Chaves’ parents congratulating Nibali for his victory in 2016, at the expenses of their son, a few seconds after discovering the final GC:
It’s a big win for Chaves, the 29-year-old has been slowly making a return to racing after recovering from Epstein-Barr virus throughout 2018.
Stage 19 Highlights
Bidon Fight!
Passo di San Boldo GPM
Kilometers 13 – 9
Kilometers 9 – 5
Kilometers 5 – 2
Final 2 Kilometers
Finishes Later Groups, GC Group
2019 Giro d’Italia Stage 18 Results and GC Standings
Stage 18
| Pos. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHAVES Esteban | Mitchelton-Scott | 4:01:31 |
| 2 | VENDRAME Andrea | Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec | 0:10 |
| 3 | ANTUNES Amaro | CCC Team | 0:12 |
| 4 | CARBONI Giovanni | Bardiani – CSF | 0:24 |
| 5 | SERRY Pieter | Deceuninck – Quick Step | 0:32 |
| 6 | BIDARD François | AG2R La Mondiale | 0:35 |
| 7 | CANOLA Marco | Nippo Vini Fantini Faizanè | 1:02 |
| 8 | BOARO Manuele | Astana Pro Team | 1:37 |
| 9 | SENNI Manuel | Bardiani – CSF | 1:53 |
| 10 | LE GAC Olivier | Groupama – FDJ | 2:33 |
General Classification
| Pos. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CARAPAZ Richard | Movistar Team | 83:52:22 |
| 2 | NIBALI Vincenzo | Bahrain Merida | 1:54 |
| 3 | ROGLIČ Primož | Team Jumbo-Visma | 2:16 |
| 4 | LANDA Mikel | Movistar Team | 3:03 |
| 5 | MOLLEMA Bauke | Trek – Segafredo | 5:07 |
| 6 | LÓPEZ Miguel Ãngel | Astana Pro Team | 5:33 |
| 7 | MAJKA RafaÅ‚ | BORA – hansgrohe | 6:48 |
| 8 | YATES Simon | Mitchelton-Scott | 7:17 |
| 9 | SIVAKOV Pavel | Team INEOS | 8:27 |
| 10 | FORMOLO Davide | BORA – hansgrohe | 10:06 |
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