Stage 18 of the 2025 Giro d’Italia, held on Thursday, May 29, featured a 144 km route from Morbegno to Cesano Maderno. Germany's Nico Denz of Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe secured a remarkable solo victory, launching an attack 17.6 km from the finish and crossing the line with a 1-minute lead over his closest competitors. This win marked Denz's third career stage victory at the Giro and provided a significant morale boost for his team following the earlier withdrawals of key riders due to crashes. 

Stage 18 Results

1. Nico Denz (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) – 3h 12'07"

2. Mirco Maestri (Team Polti–Kometa) – +1'01"

3. Edward Planckaert (Alpecin–Deceuninck) – +1'01"

4. Filippo Magli (VF Group–Bardiani CSF–Faizanè) – +1'01"

5. Alexander Edmondson (Team DSM–Firmenich PostNL) – +1'01" 

The main peloton, including all general classification (GC) contenders, finished over 10 minutes behind the stage winner, opting for a conservative approach ahead of the challenging mountain stages to come. 

General Classification After Stage 18

1. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) – 68h 56'32"

2. Richard Carapaz (EF Education–EasyPost) – +0'41"

3. Simon Yates (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – +0'51"

4. Derek Gee (Israel–Premier Tech) – +1'57"

5. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) – +3'06"

6. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) – +3'49"

7. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – +4'01"

8. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) – +4'37"

9. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) – +4'59"

10. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) – +5'31" 

Isaac Del Toro retained the maglia rosa, maintaining his lead over Carapaz and Yates. The GC standings remained unchanged, with all contenders conserving energy for the upcoming mountainous stages.

Notable Incident

Spanish rider Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) was forced to abandon the race during Stage 18 after suffering a bee sting near his eye, which led to significant swelling and impaired vision. Despite attempting to continue, Ayuso withdrew approximately one hour into the stage.