'I have to keep being consistent'

'I have to keep being consistent' - Geraint Thomas withstands Primož Roglič attacks on Giro d’Italia stage 18

Primož Roglič attacks Geraint Thomas at the 2023 Giro d'Italia

Geraint Thomas withstood an assault on his pink jersey by Primož Roglič and his Jumbo-Visma team on stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia while Italian champion Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla) took the stage victory from the breakaway.

Thomas and his Ineos Grenadiers team had shouldered much of the pace-setting duties throughout the day but it was Roglič who threw the first punch on the race’s penultimate climb.

The steep slopes of the Coi saw Roglič lieutenant Sepp Kuss set a pace that distanced all but Thomas and Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla). Then the Slovenian attacked but the Welshman was straight on his wheel.

Behind them João Almeida, who started the day in second place on GC fought valiantly to get back on but would be 20 seconds in arrears come the line and dropped down to third on GC.

Out front meanwhile, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), having distanced all of his breakaway companions bar Zana on the penultimate climb, tried to attack Zana as the final climb started but the Italian would not budge.

The Frenchman led out the sprint but the Italian, wearing the national champion’s jersey on home roads was just too strong and came round him in the closing metres.

Thomas said its a "solid day". He said: " I felt pretty good, pretty in control. Primož likes to go hard and then take it easy and go hard again. I gave him a few turns and I wasn't’ sure how he was feeling but in the last few km he really squeezed on."

When asked if he was comfortable with the gap which now stands at 29 seconds to Roglič and 39 to Almeida, he remained cautious: "Primož had a bad day the other day Almeida today, you’ve just got to keep it consistent."

Stage 19 on friday will provide another stiff mountain test which Ineos Grenadiers sports director Oli Cookson said the team would approach in a simillar manner to today. He said the would " stay calm ride as a unit and use our strengths when we can".

Then the GC rivals will face a final test on Saturday with a mountain time trial.