8:23 down! Did Ganna save himself for Arensman's Giro podium bid during stage 18?

The eighteenth stage of the Giro d’Italia turned out to be one for the sprinters. But while many fast men had to dig deep to sprint for stage victory, on paper many much better climbers sat up and took it easy in a difficult finale. That is to say, a lot of legs were saved for the two tough mountain stages still to come. Was this the case for Filippo Ganna?

Anyone with knowledge of the stage profile was surprised when looking at the results of stage 18. Paul Magnier won, Jonathan Milan finished third, with only a 59 rider-strong peloton finishing just behind them. They survived the Muro di Ca' del Poggio, 1,100 metres long at almost 12 per cent, and came home among the first riders.

Two-thirds of the peloton lost time, and in many cases by choice. Men who were flying over the hills in stage 17 were conceding minutes a day later. Chris Harper (Pinarello-Q36.5) lost 1:40, Markel Beloki (EF Education-EasyPost) and Igor Arriera (UAE Emirates-XRG) came home more than 3 and 4 minutes down, and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) really went through the motions at 5:15.

The Movistar duo of Einer Rubio and Enric Mas, UAE rider Jan Christen and Giulio Pellizzari also took it easy, although in Pellizzari’s case it remains to be seen whether that was by choice. The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider came home more than 6 minutes down after taking heavy losses throughout the third week already. Can he strike back in the mountains on Friday and Saturday?

In the very last group, eight riders crossed the line 8:23 down, and the most notable name there was Ganna. The 29-year-old Italian spoke ambitiously after stage 10 about winning more stages, but the attempts he made to get in the move again failed. In the second and third weeks, Ganna always kept turning the pedals, good enough for a place among the best fifty to seventy riders.

Now the big question is: did Ganna deliberately lose more than 8 minutes in stage 18, Ciccone-and-Mas style? Or was it not by choice? Netcompany INEOS also had Connor Swift in Ganna’s group. Thymen Arensman will hope the two rouleurs really did save the legs, so they can still do as much as possible for the Dutchman in stages 19 and 20, as he fights for a podium place in the Giro.

Arensman has no shortage of support in this race, either. In stage 18, Ben Turner, Egan Bernal, Embret Svestad-Bårdseng and Jack Haig also finished in the first peloton. Magnus Sheffield had also done plenty of work in the first two and a half weeks. Perhaps Ganna will therefore come up with something surprising in the mountains...