Tour of Italy - Kämna maintains sixth place - Zana wins 18th stage of the Giro

Lennard Kämna defended his sixth place overall at the 106th Giro d'Italia with his last ounce of strength, while Olympic champion Primoz Roglic came back in the duel of the superstars.

Kämna crossed the finish line on Thursday on the difficult 161-kilometre mountain stage from Oderzo to Val di Zoldo almost three minutes behind the Italian stage winner Filippo Zana, leaving his fiercest rivals behind.

Geraint Thomas remains overall leader

Former Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas remains at the top of the overall standings. On his 37th birthday, Thomas and the reinvigorated Slovenian Primoz Roglic rode into Val di Zoldo just under two minutes behind the breakaway riders. As a result, Roglic moved past Portuguese rider Joao Almeida into second place in the overall standings and can continue to dream of his first Giro triumph. The Slovenian cycling pro had shown some weaknesses during the stage, but was at his best in the finale. Thomas is now 29 seconds ahead of Roglic, closely followed by Almeida (+0:39).

In the battle for the stage win, Zana prevailed in the sprint against French star Thibaut Pinot. However, former Tour bronze medallist Pinot moved up to seventh place in the overall standings and retains the mountains jersey. Kämna is 4:27 minutes behind in the overall standings and is therefore still within striking distance of fourth and fifth place.

The next battle in the mountains will follow on Friday, when the extremely difficult final climb to the Three Peaks with gradients of 18 per cent awaits the riders. In total, there are three first and two second category climbs to tackle on the 183 kilometre long 19th stage from Longarone to the mountain arrival. The mountain time trial to Monte Lussari follows on Saturday, before the final stage with start and finish in Rome on Sunday should be a sprinter's affair.

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