PEZ RACE REPORT: Yet another day of surprisingly entertaining racing – featuring our favorite characters from the past 17 stages.
Just when it looked like the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio might finally hand the attackers their day, Paul Magnier had other ideas. The young Frenchman of Soudal Quick-Step survived the Giro’s steep little wall in Veneto, benefited from a beautifully executed lead-out by Jasper Stuyven, and stormed to his third stage victory of the 2026 Giro d’Italia in Pieve di Soligo. As if the win wasn’t enough, Magnier also clawed back the ciclamino jersey, edging out Jonathan Milan after one of the Giro’s wackier sprint days.
On paper, Stage 18 looked anything but straightforward. The 168-kilometre run from Fai della Paganella to Pieve di Soligo featured two categorized climbs, most notably the nasty little brute known as the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio – just 1.1 kilometres at 12.1%, but positioned perfectly nine kilometres from the finish to cause maximum chaos. Too hard for the pure sprinters? That was the expectation. Which naturally meant the breakaway specialists spent the morning sharpening their knives.
FUN FACTS
- May 28 marks the anniversary of the longest stage in Giro history: Lucca–Rome in 1914 (430 km). Riders started just after midnight and arrived 17h 28m later. Won by Costante Girardengo at 26.2 km/h average. Lauro Bordin led a 350 km solo break—still a record—finishing 10th.
- Alfredo Binda, with 41 stage wins and 5 Giro titles, claimed his last on May 28, 1933 (Bolzano–Milan).
- Two-time Giro winner Gilberto Simoni won his first stage in Bormio on May 28, 2000.
- 186th finish in Veneto: last year it hosted 2 finishes. In Vicenza the winner was Mads Pedersen, in Asiago Carlos Verona.
The Breakaway Tries Its Luck
The attacks began almost immediately.
Johan Jacobs and Filippo Magli were the first to escape the madness, opening a promising gap while Matyáš Kopecký tried – unsuccessfully – to bridge across. For a brief moment, it looked like the day’s move had formed.
PEZ SEz: This is exactly the kind of Giro stage I love — hard enough to create chaos, not hard enough to eliminate the fast men. Add in one vicious wall, a touch of tactical confusion and a sprinter willing to suffer, and suddenly the stage is “molto spettacolare”.
Not so fast.
The race exploded again on the first meaningful climb, five kilometres of grinding road at over six percent. Everything reset. The original leaders disappeared and the race resumed its familiar Giro theme of “nobody really knows what’s happening yet.”
Eventually, a more durable quartet finally slipped clear: Mattia Bais, Andrea Mifsud, James Shaw, and Belgian hardman Jonas Geens, who bridged across after a determined chase. After 65 kilometres, the breakaway finally looked stable. Or at least Giro stable.
Lidl-Trek Plays a Curious Game
Behind, Lidl-Trek quietly kept things under control.
But why?
Were they betting on Jonathan Milan somehow surviving the Muro? Or did Giulio Ciccone have ambitions on the steep ramps? Whatever the plan, they got help from NSN Cycling, who fancied the chances of Corbin Strong, while UAE Emirates XRG later joined the chase.
For much of the day, very little happened, until…
White jersey holder Afonso Eulálio hit the deck while collecting a musette, bringing Hartthijs de Vries down with him in an awkward tumble. Fortunately, both riders remounted, patched themselves together and eventually clawed their way back into the peloton. Crisis avoided – mostly.
Meanwhile, at the intermediate sprint in Guia, Jhonatan Narváez quietly added another point to his tally in the battle for purple, inching slightly further clear of Magnier.
At least temporarily.
Watch the video below to see gorgeous scenery from the roads on this ride, or see the full PEZ Youtube channel here. And more links at bottom.
All Roads Lead to the Muro
The breakaway’s resistance finally ended with 22 kilometres remaining, though Jonas Geens refused to surrender quietly. The Belgian dug deep, claimed the Red Bull Sprint, and somehow hung on until the race reached the foot of the Muro di Ca’ del Poggio, where reality finally caught him.
Then the race went into full “chaos” mode. Sprinters, GC men, stage hunters – everyone was mixing it up …
Unibet Rose Rockets, Netcompany INEOS, and Lidl-Trek fought brutally for position before the climb. Jonathan Milan impressively held station near the front while the real climbers waited to strike.
Who’s that? The first serious attack came not from a GC favourite but from the recently crashed Afonso Eulálio, who launched hard with 700 metres remaining on the Muro and instantly opened daylight. It looked dangerous – until Visma | Lease a Bike calmly closed the gap near the summit.
Even Jonas Vingegaard himself briefly turned the screws, splitting the field just enough to create uncertainty.
But not enough to kill the sprinters.
Magnier Finishes the Job
What followed was classic Giro confusion.
Attacks flew everywhere. Jai Hindley tried. Then Johannes Kulset and Eulálio escaped together, briefly dangling ten seconds in front while the chasers hesitated.
Suddenly, the impossible became possible: The sprinters were back in business.
The escapees were finally swept up inside 1.5 kilometres to go, setting up a reduced sprint that looked perfectly designed for a rider who could survive steep climbs and still sprint fast.
Enter Jasper Stuyven, who delivered a masterclass lead-out for Paul Magnier.
The Belgian lined it up perfectly.
Magnier did the rest.
“I didn’t think my third stage victory would happen today — that makes it even more beautiful.”
The Frenchman held off Edoardo Zambanini and Jonathan Milan to claim his third stage win of this Giro, and with it, retake the ciclamino jersey in one of the race’s most tactical sprint finishes.
Some days the Giro belongs to climbers.
Some days to breakaway artists.
And some days?
To the sprinter tough enough to survive the wall first.
2026 Giro d’Italia Stage 18 Video Hilights
QUOTES
Speaking seconds after the finish, the stage winner Paul Magnier said: “I didn’t think my third stage victory would happen today. That’s why it makes it even more beautiful. I can thank my team for the confidence they gave me. I got dropped on the first climb but my teammates cheered on me. They set me up for a sprint and it makes me so happy today. Jasper Stuyven gave me a fantastic lead out. To wear the Maglia Rosa and the Maglia Ciclamino, to win three stages it’s more than I could have imagined before the Giro. It makes me proud and happy”.
2026 Giro d’Italia Stage 18 Results
2026 Giro d’Italia Overall Results After Stage 18
Follow all The PEZ Giro d’Italia coverage here
• Week 3 Stage by Stage Route Guide
• PEZ Rides the Muro di ca del Poggio
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