As the peloton rolled along the Adige River toward Passo dello Stelvio on stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia, there was a certain sense of inevitability to the developments unfolding on the slopes of the competition's highest mountain.

While the Maria Rosa battle was up in the air and even less certain after the finish in Laghi di Cancano, the relative decline of Trek-Segafredo leader Vincenzo Nibali, who has won two races, was confirmed when the race crossed the Swiss border on Thursday afternoon Nibali's relative decline was confirmed when the race crossed the Swiss border on Thursday afternoon. [A kilometer after race leader Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step) fell, along with other top 10 riders including Rafau Mayka (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Pero Bilbao (Bahrain McLaren), Lo Squalo was last from the GC group of Stelvio Stelvio was the last to fall from the GC group.

He was followed by fellow 35-year-old Jacob Hugslang (Astana), who dropped back 10km from the summit and was never seen at the front of the race again.

Known for his strength in past final weeks in Gili, most famously in the Alps in 2016 when he chased back from 4:43 behind to defeat Steven Kruijswijk and Esteban Chaves, and in 2017 when he won the Stelvio stage, there was no such heroics this time.

"There's no explanation other than that the other riders are faster," said Kruiswijk. 'There is a generational shift going on. It is clear that the other players are showing their youth."

"There are very few of us old riders left; I think I'm the only one born in 1984 who can compete with the top riders.

While Wednesday's 17th stage of the Brenta Dolomites to Madonna di Campiglio (also part of the first climb to Laghi di Cancano) passed with the drama of a sprint stage at Pianura Padana, the 2,000-altitude Stelvio In a race over 2,000 meters, the cumulative effect of the climbs was still a factor.

"It was a really hard stage. Even if nothing happened yesterday, the 5,600 meters of altitude difference today was felt in everyone's legs," Nibali said.

"Right from the start, we climbed the Stelvio at a strong pace with Sunweb pulling. Then, when we were 9-10 km from the summit and already at 2,000 meters, Ineos with Geoghegan Hart and Dennis accelerated even faster. A small group of the best riders up to that point exploded."

Nibali responded calmly, despite the fact that he had no teammates around him to rely on. Fuglsang chased the lead group alone and attached himself to the Bahrain-McLaren duo of Domen Novak and Bilbao. Bilbao then chased down Domen Novak and Bilbao, leaving Nibali behind 5 km from the summit.

The Sicilian then rode alone for the next 33 km (the long descent to Isolaccia and the race along the valley to the second km of Torri di Fraele) before the Almeida group came up ahead of Nibali.

"I was alone, but in that moment I decided to climb at a comfortable, steady pace. I did my best to keep my pace. On the final climb, I found a group of maglia rosa and followed them to the finish."

After the climb, Nibali stood at the finish surrounded by refuges near the Cancano dam and reflected not only on the day's events, but also on a confusing season. He also refuted the oft-repeated accusation that this Giro was being contested by a weaker group than in previous years.

"It was a very difficult Giro for me, at the end of an equally difficult year for everyone. But it's a strange season, with so many riders focused on one particular event and none of them knowing how to get here."

"I have read a lot of criticism about this Giro, but I can assure you that the standard of racing was always very high.

"As for the youngsters, there were discoveries like Almeida. He recorded 1850 VAM in the first part of the piacavallo, showing that he was already the strongest in numbers and in attitude." [Hindley is 24, Geoghegan Hart is 25, and Almeida is only 22.

The podium trio of Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb), Hindley, and Geoghegan Hart are 15 seconds ahead of Saturday's stage 20, a 15.7km time trial in Milan before three climbs to Sestriere.

"It's been a Giro full of surprises so far," said the Italian. There are still two stages to go for GC. Nothing will happen on Friday and the race could explode again on Saturday. Who will win the Giro is hard to say at this point."