Date: Thursday, May 28
Distance: 171km
Start location: Fai della Paganella
Finish location: Pieve di Soligo
Start time: 12:15 BST / 13:15 CEST / 07:15 EDT
Finish time (approx.): 16:14 BST / 17:14 CEST / 11:14 EDT
With its steepest pitch at 19%, the Muro di Cà del Poggio (“The wall of Cà del Poggio”) certainly deserves its name. The 1.1km ascent tops out with less than 10km to ride on stage 18 of the 2026 Giro d’Italia and its average gradient of 12.3% means that only the punchiest of riders will be able to survive its slopes to compete for victory.
Although there are only two categorised climbs (including the Muro) on the 171 kilometres from Fai della Paganella to Pieve di Soligo, stage 18 is a deceptively challenging day in the Prosecco hills to the north of Treviso. It will likely prove too difficult for the pure sprinters and could therefore be another decisive day for the ciclamino jersey battle between Paul Magnier and Jhonatan Narváez.
Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 18 profile
Contenders
Already a winner of three stages at this Giro, Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has been the man to beat over the kind of lumpy terrain that awaits the peloton on stage 18. His teammates Jan Christen and Igor Arrieta have also been active in breakaways all race, with Arrieta claiming stage five.
Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) has tried relentlessly to win from the break at this Giro, but to no avail. Stage 19 – which climbs over the mighty Passo Giau and comes with the chance to claim more KOM points – might suit the Italian better than stage 18, but if he were in a position to attack on the Muro di Cà del Poggio, few would be able to follow.
Like Ciccone, the Movistar trio Lorenzo Milesi, Einer Rubio and Enric Mas have been present in multiple breaks but don’t have anything to show for their efforts. With no long climbs on the route, Milesi seems like Movistar’s best option on stage 18.
Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost) who won the stage on Wednesday, Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) and Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana) are well suited to the attritional parcours and performed well on stage 13, won by Bettiol. The Italian’s teammates Diego Ulissi and stage two winner Guillermo Thomas Silva have proven they can challenge over this sort of terrain.
The final climb could even be taxing enough for the maglia rosa Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) to drop his rivals – way back on stage two he showed his punchiness over lumpy terrain. However, it’s expected that he will save his powder for the Dolomites to come.
The pure sprinters like Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets) have not been able to survive the lumpy stages of this Giro so far and that’s not likely to change on Thursday. After squandering the flat stage to Milan, they will most likely have to wait until Sunday’s finale in Rome to get their chance.
Also look out for Frank van den Broek (Team Picnic PostNL), who took a memorable second-place on stage one of the 2024 Tour de France, Gianmarco Garofoli and Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), Mattia Bais (Team Polti VisitMalta), David de la Cruz (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Mick van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling), Magnus Sheffield and Ben Turner (Netcompany Ineos) and Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United), who went on a solo raid on stage 17 before being caught by the chase group with 60km to go.
Prediction
We think Jhonathan Narváez will punch his way to a fourth stage win and heap more pressure on Paul Magnier in the maglia ciclamino competition.
