2024 Giro d’Italia: Stage 12 Results

After a long time at the front with Mirco Maestri and then a solo breakaway with 12km to go, Julian Alaphilippe takes the win on Stage 12 of the 2024 Giro d’Italia. With the win, the Frenchman has now taken stage wins in every Grand Tour. Alaphilippe and Maestri went away with a stunning 126 km to go in the race.

Tadej Pogacar maintains the maglia rosa.

The 193 km stage  between Martinsicuro and Fano was full of pitfalls with the Marche Walls that turned the stage into a small Classic.

The peloton, 154 riders strong, crossed the KM 0 at 12.36. Fabio Jakobsen (Team DSM-Firmenich Post NL) did not start the race today.

The day started with a number of breakaway attempts, but the heroes of the day were Mirco Maestri (Team Polti Kometa) and Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep), who spent much of the race off the front with a chasing group that swelled to 36 riders at one point.

As I picked up race coverage, Maestri and Alaphillipe led a chasing group of 9 by 1 minute and another group of chasers nearly 5 minutes back. The peloton was at 5’43”

With 12km to go, Alaphilippe attacked and Maestri was not able to follow.

Still chasing were Jhonathan Narvaez, Quiten Hermans, Christian Scaroni, Benjamin Thomas, Michael Valgren, Dion Allan Smith, Simon Clarke, Gijs Leemreize, and Matteo Trentin at 45″.

With 6km to go, Alaphilippe was over the final climb with 36 seconds lead over chasers Narvaez and Hermans. The peloton was still over 5 minutes in arrears.

Alaphilippe was attacking every corner aggressively, not giving up any seconds. As he enters the final 3km, the roads narrow further and there are a number of turns, adding to his chances.

As he passed under the flamme rouge, Alaphilippe did not let off the gas, only allowing himself to celebrate about 100m from the line.

Speaking seconds after the stage finish, the stage winner Julian Alaphilippe said: “The plan wasn’t to do 125km like this but with a big group. Firstly I have to thank my team-mates for controlling the first 60km. The cooperation with Mirco Maestri was excellent. He also deserved the stage win. I always believed I could win but until the last kilometres I had to push full gas. The chasers were close behind me. It was my dream to win a stage at the Giro d’Italia. It makes me really happy. It’s an important win for me after difficult times. I got it thanks to my team, my wife and my son who have always supported me”.

The Maglia Rosa Tadej Pogacar said: “The beginning of the stage was very fast. Alaphilippe showed that he’s back. What he did is actually incredible. This is what champions do. He deserves this victory. Not many riders are able to do this. The parcours was pretty tough with a lot of small climbs. Luckily for us we have a good gap on GC. It’s a stage I would have liked to try and win if I wasn’t here for GC but I prefer to do GC”.

Stage 12 Brief Results

1. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) @ 4h 7’44”
2. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) at 31″
3. Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) at 32″

General Classification After Stage 12

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
2. Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora – Hansgrohe) at 2’40”
3. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) at 2’56”

Jerseys

The leader jerseys of the Giro d’Italia are produced and designed by CASTELLI.

• Maglia Rosa, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by Enel – Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
• Maglia Ciclamino, leader of the Points Classification, in collaboration with Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale and ITA Italian Trade Agency – Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
• Maglia Azzurra, leader of the Gran Premio della Montagna (KOM), sponsored by Banca Mediolanum – Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
• Maglia Bianca, Best Young Rider, born after 01/01/1999, sponsored by Eataly – Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious)