Filippo Zana edged Thibaut Pinot to take the 18th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday while Primoz Roglic went on the attack and shook off all his main rivals except race leader Geraint Thomas, who was celebrating his 37th birthday.

On the first of three brutal days in the Dolomites, French veteran Pinot, who is retiring at the end of the season, drove the breakaway on as he collected enough points to take the King of the Mountains classification lead.

However, he lost out on a stage victory in the final climb to the line for the second time in a week.

More details on SportsDesk.