Giro d'Italia 2014 - 18th stage : Belluno - Rifugio Panarotta (Valsugana)(171km)

Julian Arredondo (Trek) rode an outstanding race and secured the victory ahead of Fabio Duarte(Colombia) and Philip Deignan (Sky). In the battle for the blue jersey - the mountain classification - he continued to distance his fiercest rival ,Dario Cataldo (Sky), who finished eighth on the day, and currently leads with 173 points.

By Bruno Fleckenstein

A leading group of about 14 riders rode ahead of the main field. Among them were the eventual winner Julian Arredondo (Trek), Fabio Duarte (Colombia), Philip Deignan (Sky), Dario Cataldo (Sky), Ivan Basso (Cannondale) and others whom he left behind in the San Pellegrino and Passo del Redebus climbs because he kept his opponents at bay with his strong attack. Even on the last climb no one could deny him the victory and he won by 17 seconds ahead of Fabio Duarte. Philip Deignan reached the finish line 37 seconds after the Colombian.
The two leaders of the overall standings Nairo Quintana and Rigoberto Uran rode so to speak wheel to wheel and did not leave each other out of sight. The decision in the Tour has not yet been made. But Uran must not wait too long with his attack to snatch the overall victory from Quintana. They both arrived at the finish line 2:46 minutes behind the winner. Cadel Evans lost the chance to win the Tour title on this day because he lost more than 1:30 minutes to the two Colombians and this also threw him far behind in the overall standings. Ivan Basso, Tour winner in 2006 and 2010, showed his old class again on this day and finished seventh, 1:43 minutes behind the winner.

Overall standings after the 18th stage
1st Nairo Quintana (COL) - Movistar 77h58:08
2 - Rigoberto Uran (COL) - Omega-Quick Step +1:41
3rd Pierre Rolland (FRA) - Europcar +3:29
4th Fabio Aru (ITA) - Astana +3:31
5th Rafal Majka (POL) - Tinkoff-Saxo +3:31
6th Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA) - AG2R La Mondiale +3:52
7th Ryder Hesjedal (CAN) - Garmin-Sharp +4:32
8th Wilco Kelderman (NED) - Belkin +4:37
9 - Cadel Evans (AUS) - BMC +4:59
10th Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) - Trek +8:33