Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb) won Stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia, his first Grand Tour success, on an incredible day on which the GC battle lit up the race.

After a 15-rider breakaway had gone ahead, the race - and the GC battle - exploded on the slopes of the Passo Stelvio, where Maglia Rosa João Almeida (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) was dropped as INEOS Grenadiers piled the pressure on in their push for Tao Geoghegan Hart.

Sunweb had set a furious pace on the front of the peloton into the foot of the Stelvio, as they teed up Wilco Kelderman for their assault on the GC, and he moved into the virtual pink jersey as Almeida was distanced.

However, the Dutchman struggled up the climb and his team-mate Hindley had to latch onto Rohan Dennis and Geoghegan Hart, who set off, as Kelderman’s virtual lead was narrowed back down.

That trio descended the Stelvio and as they arrived at the base of the day’s final climb, the Torri di Fraele, Dennis’ job was done after an epic pull for his team-mate. That left Geoghegan Hart and Hindley to go head-to-head.

Kelderman’s rollercoaster day continued when he was overtaken by Pello Bilbao (Team Bahrain McLaren) and Jakub Fuglsang (Astana), but a resurgence from Kelderman saw him hold steady up the Cat.1 climb to hold onto the GC lead.

Geoghegan Hart and Hindley sprinted for the win, with the Australian prevailing, as Kelderman managed to hold on just enough to confirm himself as the new GC leader with a 12-second advantage over his colleague Hindley. Geoghegan Hart’s display moved him inside the GC top three at just 15 seconds off Kelderman.

Here are the standout efforts from a memorable day at the Giro: