The heart of the third and final week of the Giro d'Italia is dedicated to those with courage and still some energy left to spend on attacking and seizing the breakaway. The eighteenth stage runs from Fai della Paganella to Pieve di Soligo for 171 km with 2,050 meters of elevation gain to overcome.

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It is an undulating stage from start to finish. It connects the Adige valley with the Brenta valley with the climb of Civezzano and then continues on an undulating route, but predominantly downhill until Primolano. The short climb of the Primolano Stairs is tackled to enter the Piave valley and after Valdobbiadene overcome the short climbs of Combai, Tarzo and Ca' del Poggio (9 km from the finish, 4th category climb) before the finish line at Pieve di Soligo.

Final kilometers all slightly downhill with two curves in the last kilometer: the last one leads into the 300 m finishing straight in slight uphill

THE ROADS OF THE GIRO. The start from Fai della Paganella allows you to admire the Dolomites of Brenta once again. But not only that. The Fai Castle, built in the seventeenth century by the Spaur family, represents an important historical testimony of the territory, while the MAS Museum (Museum of Arts and Knowledge) allows you to explore local customs and traditions. Among experiences related to wellness, the Parco del Respiro stands out, an area dedicated to forest bathing, immersed in the woods.

The first downhill kilometers lead to the Piana Rotaliana covered by vineyards where Trento DOC is born, a sparkling wine symbol of excellence and Teroldego Rotaliano DOC, considered the prince of Trentino red wines. Immediately after comes Trento which welcomes you with the magnificence of the Cathedral of San Vigilio and the frescoed facades of sixteenth-century palaces, with the artworks housed in the Buonconsiglio Castle and the MUSE - Museum of Sciences designed by Renzo Piano.

From here you climb back towards the Valsugana, crossed along its entire length by one of Italy's oldest cycling paths. From Pergine stretched at the foot of the medieval castle you quickly reach Lake Caldonazzo already awarded the Blue Flag of Europe for the quality of its waters. Then comes the turn of Lake Levico which nestles into the vegetation like a Norwegian fjord.

The mountains are now behind when you reach Feltre, a historic crossroads of traffic between the Venices and Trentino that has cultivated the cult of beauty over the centuries. The defensive walls that once encircled the hill on which the historic center stands have become unnecessary, and you can stroll among historic palaces, churches and monuments of great value. Via Mezzaterra is the Renaissance heart of the city: it should be walked entirely to Piazza Maggiore.

You then enter the Lands of Prosecco, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Vineyards and cellars are the common thread of the final kilometers of the stage, but they still leave room for some distractions. It happens in Valdobbiadene where the neoclassical Villa dei Cedri and the Church of San Floriano remind us that in these parts wine has not always been the only protagonist. And it also happens in Follina where you find the Cistercian abbey of Santa Maria of medieval origin. Not to mention the seventeenth-century, and much-photographed, Molinetto della Croda in Refrontolo.

After the race finish it is pleasant to stroll through the streets of Pieve di Soligo, first of all walking along the Cal Santa which is one of the oldest streets in the historic center, or venturing into the Borgo Stolfi where next to the houses of local tradition you observe the old irrigation channel with the mill wheel fed by the Soligo. Also worth seeing is the seventeenth-century Villa Chisini-Daniott, the baroque Church of Madonna del Carmine and Palazzo Balbi Valier, from the nineteenth century. Don't miss the Ponte del Contenzioso, named after ancient and heated disputes. Today glasses clink here. Full of Prosecco, naturally.