• American BMC rider wins 137km stage from Moena to Ortisei • Tom Dumoulin keeps 31sec lead to close in on GC victory

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

After plenty of close calls, Tejay van Garderen finally won his first grand tour stage in a sprint finish on the streets of Ortisei in the Dolomites.

The 28-year-old American was visibly emotional after holding off Team Sky’s Mikel Landa in a charge to the line following a breakaway to claim the Giro d’Italia’s stage 18 for BMC. “It’s my first Grand Tour stage win and it feels incredible,” Van Garderen said afterwards.

Behind him the overall race leader, Tom Dumoulin, took another crucial step in the battle for the maglia rosa, finishing ninth and clocking the same time as Nairo Quintana to ensure he maintained control of the pink jersey, with his 31-second lead intact heading into the final three stages. Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali remains third, 1min 12sec behind the leader.

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The Dutchman Dumoulin fended off some desperate attacks by Quintana. The Dolomite climbs looked tailor-made for the diminutive Movistar rider but, try as he could, Quintana failed to make any of his attacks stick and Dumoulin even threatened to extend his lead when he poured on the power on the final ascent.

Home favourite Nibali also tried to break Dumoulin but he never looked threatened. Sunweb’s Dumoulin and Quintana crossed the line in the same time and with two days of climbing left, Dumoulin now looks favourite to win the Giro.

Thibaut Pinot of France is still in contention after moving into fourth overall, 1min 36sec back.

Stage 18 results

1. Tejay van Garderen (US / BMC Racing) 3hr 54min 03sec 2. Mikel Landa (Spain / Team Sky) ST 3. Thibaut Pinot (France / FDJ) +8” 4. Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R) 5. Jan Hirt (Czech Republic / CCC) +11” 6. Ilnur Zakarin (Russia / Katusha) +24” 7. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek) +34” 8. Steven Kruijswijk (Netherlands / LottoNL) 9. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands / Sunweb) +1:06” 10. Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Movistar)

Overall classification after stage 18

1. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands / Sunweb) 80hr 00min 48sec 2. Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Movistar) +31” 3. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain) +1:12” 4. Thibaut Pinot (France / FDJ) +1:36” 5. Ilnur Zakarin (Russia / Katusha) +1:58” 6. Filippo Pozzato (Italy / Wilier Triestina) +2:07” 7. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek) +3:17” 8. Steven Kruijswijk (Netherlands / LottoNL) +5:48” 9. Adam Yates (Britain / Orica) +7:06” 10. Bob Jungels (Luxembourg / Quick-Step) +7:24”