LIVE Stage 18 Giro d’Italia 2025 | Flat day tailor-made for the fast men

Stage 18 kicks off in Morbegno and can roughly be split into three sections. The first thirty kilometers are mostly flat, taking the peloton to Bellano where the terrain starts to roll. From there, a 60-kilometer stretch of punchy roads offers the perfect springboard for attackers, provided a strong break hasn’t already gone up the road.

That middle section of this short 144-kilometer stage might be labeled “hilly,” but it opens with the climb to Parlasco. At 7.6 kilometers with an average gradient of 6.2 percent, it’s more than just a bump in the road. Still, with its steady slopes, it’s one that suits the diesel engines in the bunch.

After the summit of the Parlasco, there’s a short descent of just four kilometers before the road starts to rise again, gradually but relentlessly. The peloton passes through the intermediate sprint in Primaluna, climbing all the way to the top of the Colle Balisio, a 4.6-kilometer drag at 3.3 percent. That stretch alone adds another 250 vertical meters in just sixteen kilometers.

From there, riders finally get some well-earned downhill before facing the last categorized climb of the day. The Ravellino clocks in at nine kilometers with an average gradient of four percent, not exactly a wall for full-time pros but enough to sting late in the race. Shortly after, there’s a bonus sprint in Sirtori, placed after a kicker of 3.1 kilometers at 4.4 percent.

That wraps up the climbing for the day. Roughly 60 kilometers of racing remain to the line in Cesano Maderno. Before the final sprint, riders will take on two local laps of 13 kilometers each, which look fairly technical on paper. The last corner comes with 750 meters to go.

Climbs
37.7 km: Parlasco (7.6 km a 6.2%)
54.5 km: Colle Balisio (4.6 km a 3.3%)
78.0 km: Ravellino (9.0 km a 4.0%)

Times
Start: 1:50 PM local time (07:50 AM EDT)
Finish: around 5:12 PM local time (11:12 AM EDT)

The riders won’t have much to complain about when it comes to the weather on Thursday. Temperatures at the finish are expected to climb well above 20 degrees Celsius, with little to no chance of rain and barely a breeze to speak of.

Stage 18 has all the makings of a classic final-week Grand Tour stage. For many riders, it’s realistically their last shot, which makes it a nightmare to control for the sprint teams, if any are still intact. Just look at Mads Pedersen from Lidl-Trek. The Dane knows he’ll struggle to beat the pure fast men in a head-to-head drag race, so going on the offensive and trying to drop them early might be his best bet.

He’s already down two teammates after the withdrawals of Giulio Ciccone and Søren Kragh Andersen, which means riders like Daan Hoole and Mathias Vacek could also go hunting for the break in Lidl-Trek colors. Visma | Lease a Bike is another squad with options. They’ve got the raw speed of Olav Kooij, but also dangerous attackers like Edoardo Affini and, most notably, a strong Wout van Aert, who’s already said this stage suits him well.

Alpecin-Deceuninck is probably one of the few teams with a real interest in keeping things together for a bunch sprint, knowing they’ve got Kaden Groves on board. But will they get any help? A team like Picnic PostNL might see an opportunity with Casper van Uden. Other remaining pure sprinters in the Giro include Luca Mozzato (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R), Max Kanter (XDS-Astana), Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty), Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5), and Maikel Zijlaard from Tudor.

Still, on a stage like this, the stronger sprinters and all-rounders might be the ones to watch. Guys like Stefano Oldani (Cofidis), Orluis Aular (Movistar), Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step), and Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) have the legs to survive the hills and still pack a punch in a reduced sprint.

Then there’s the diesel crew, riders who thrive deep into a Grand Tour. Think of names like Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R), Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers), Nico Denz (Decathlon AG2R), and Filippo Fiorelli from VF Group-Bardiani—classic-style riders with a nose for the right move. Whether they actually get a shot at the win will largely depend on how Lidl-Trek and Visma | Lease a Bike want to play their cards.

Top favorites: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Outsiders:Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL)
Long shots: Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers), Stefano Oldani (Cofidis), Orluis Aular (Movistar), Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step), Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Sam Bennett, Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R) and Nico Denz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)