Verona awaits Arnaud Démare who is on the verge of conquering a second Ciclamino jersey

After 2020, Arnaud Démare finds himself once again in a position to conquer the points classification at the Giro d'Italia, after returning to his best level and taking three stage wins alongside a very consistent performance throughout the race.

“The break was very strong and very smart. They really played with us for a long time, they resisted very well," Démare said at the end of stage 18 where the breakaway managed to hold off the peloton despite the ferocious chase. “I have to thank QuickStep for collaborating well with us, they put everyone on the front to help us chase."

The final opportunity for him to take a win in the race was wasted from the peloton yesterday, however the Frenchman didn't point out too much disappointment as the goals have been acomplished. “...I’m also relieved because the sprints are finished, and now I can concentrate on the last two mountain stages before Verona," he said.

With 254 points after stage 18, he's got a lead that won't be closed to Mark Cavendish who sits second with 132 points. With this, he just has to make it inside the time limit on the remaining stages to be able to conclude a successful race in which he's gotten back to his winning ways.

His focus now stands on surviving: "You can’t lose focus before Saturday evening because that’s going to be a big mountain day, but I can be proud of the work we’ve done to this point. Now we’ll just hope we can get to the finish as quickly as possible on Saturday.”

“For the maglia ciclamino, it was really a bigger battle two years ago with Peter Sagan. There were only 10 points between us in the final days, so it went down to the wire. But here, it’s already been a week where I’ve had a gap," he concluded, as he doesn't have to chase for small points to reassure his achievement.