France's Paul Magnier made it a hat-trick of victories in this year's Giro d'Italia as he comfortably won a bunch sprint at the end of stage 18 on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Soudal Quick-Step rider was perfectly set up by teammate Jasper Stuyven in the final few high-speed turns and powered to the line ahead of two Italian sprinters.
Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) was second with Jonatham Milan (Lidl-Trek) third.
🔻A technical and ultra-fast finish, and for the first time since Sofia, a mass-sprint took place!
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 28, 2026
🔻Ricucito l'ultimo attacco il finale regala uno sprint tiratissimo e ad alta tensione!
⏪ The @continentaltire Ultimo Kilometro#GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/hU2vX2PZAZ
Victory for Magnier, who also won the first and third stages in Bulgaria, means he takes the lead in the fight for the points classification jersey.
Overall race leader Jonas Vingegaard attacked on the day's short sharp final climb inside the last 10km but settled for a place in the main bunch to preserve his big lead.
Denmark's Vingegaard (Team Visma - Lease A Bike), bidding to complete his set of Grand Tour triumphs, leads by 4:03 minutes with three stages left.
The 171km stage came alive after a four-man break of Mattia Bais (Polti–VisitMalta), Andrea Mifsud (Polti–VisitMalta), Jonas Geens (Alpecin–Premier Tech) and James Shaw (EF Education–EasyPost) was caught with around 25 km to go.
The 1.1km Il Muro di Ca del Poggio ramp, with gradients of 19%, provided a sharp sting in the tail and for a while it looked like Vingegaard might go for the stage win.
Previous General Classification leader Afonso Eulalio, who recovered from a crash earlier in the day, also sensed an opportunity.
But in the end it was a day for the sprinters and Soudal Quick-Step played the perfect hand as Stuyven led Magnier into the final tricky corner, giving his young teammate the perfect line for his final burst of acceleration to the line.
"I had a lot of confidence this morning," said Magnier, who also wore the race leader's Maglia Rosa jersey after his earlier stage wins. "My teammates made it into a sprint and I'm so happy to win. Jasper made an amazing lead-out."