France’s Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) sped to a hat-trick victory in the Giro d’Italia on Thursday, winning the bunch sprint on damp roads in Pieve di Soligo on stage 18.
On a tough finish featuring a cat-four climb with 10km to go, it didn’t always look as though the sprinters would have their day. But despite a lot of attacking riding, not least from former maglia rosa Alfonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious), the race came back together in the final kilometres.
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retained the maglia rosa, 4:03 ahead of Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM).
“I didn’t really expect it would happen today, which makes it even more beautiful,” an exuberant Magnier said after the stage.
“I can really thank my team for the confidence. I was not confident in myself this morning and I even [got] dropped on the first climb, then I tried to focus again. My teammates were around me and they made it to the sprint – I’m so happy to win here today.”
He added: “To be honest I can’t even remember the final. I think I’ll enjoy the three stage wins, I had the pink jersey already and the ciclamino jersey for many days. That is something I didn’t expect before this Giro and I’m super proud to be there now.”
