May 19/16 12:07 pm - Giro d'Italia: Stage 12

Posted by Editoress on 05/19/16
 

Well deserved third victory for André Greipel
German sprinter leaves race as Jungels prepares Maglia Rosa defence in mountains

André Greipel snatched his third stage victory at the 99th Giro d’Italia as he outsprinted Caleb Ewan and Giacomo Nizzolo in a bunch gallop at Bibione. Bob Jungels retained the Maglia Rosa ahead of the first mountainous weekend.

Stage Details

181 riders cast off from Noale at 1:03 pm. The mayor of the city, Patrizia Andreotti, drops the flag.
Non-starter: Astana Pro Team’ s Agnoli.

The pace is brisk right from the very beginning, with many attacks and counter-attacks.. Oss and Trentin pulled away at km 5, and built a slight advantage. Trentin sits up at km 10 and by akm 11, Oss is leading by 10s  on the peloton.

At km 13, Oss is 24s  up the road; at km 14: 26s;  Maestri counter-attacks out of the peloton.

At km 16, Maestri is 27s up the road, the peloton lags 1:09  behind (with Kolobnev taking a pull).

At km 19, the breakaway rider is leading by 37s  on Maestri, by 1:28” on Kolobnev and by 2:42  on the peloton.

Maestri catches up with Oss (at km 25); Kolobnev is 1:58  up the road, and the peloton lags 3:04  behind.

At km 27, the gaps are 2:25 and  4:15 , respectively; Kolobnev is caught at km 36, the peloton is 3:05  down the road.

Average speed after one hour of racing: 43.300 km/h.

At km 45, the gap is 2:18;  at km 50: 2:04;  Lampre-Merida riders are setting the tempo at  the front of the peloton. At km 56, the break is 2:57”  up the road; at km 60: 2:42;  at km 67: 1:50;  at km 73: 1:51 . Lotto Soudal riders are setting the tempo, as well. At km 80, the gap is 1:50.

Average speed after two hours: 41.150 km/h.

At km 87, the break is 2:08  up the road; at the mark indicating mid-stage: 2:12.
Intermediate sprint (km 94.7 – Ormelle)

Oss clears the intermediate sprint ahead of Maestri; Nizzolo, Trentin, Demare, Delage, De Bie, Coledan and the peloton are 2:24  down the road.

At km 104, the gap is 2:20;  Roglic crashes but gets back up straight away. At the mark indicating 75 km to the finish, the gap is 2:08;  at km 114: 1:40;  at km 118: 2:10.

Average speed after three hours: 40.460 km/h.

At km 121, the gap is 2:10;  at km 128: 1:30.

Intermediate sprint (km 131.1 – Portogruaro)

Oss claims the intermediate sprint ahead of Maestri; Nizzolo, Trentin, Demare, De Bie, Delage, Konovalovas and the peloton are 54s  down the road.

At the sign indicating 45 km to the finish, the break is 50s  up the road; -40 km: 37s;  -35 km: 36s;  -30 km: 22s.

Oss and Maestri are caught up at km 159 (they have been on a break for 154 and 134 km, respectively).

Lotto Soudal riders are leading the peloton.

By decision of the Race Direction, in agreement with the Commmissaires Panel, the race is to be neutralised upon the second passage of the finish line (8 km remaining to the finish).

At the first passage on the finish in Bibione (two laps of an 8-km circuit), Lotto Soudal riders are still setting the tempo of a strung out peloton. Lotto Soudal holds on. The bunch rolls all together at the beginning of the last lap (-8 km to the finish).

Grosu crashes.

At the red flag team Lampre is at the front of the peloton setting a fierce pace.

FINISH (Bibione – km 182)
Greipel claims his third stage win in this Giro, ahead of Ewan, Nizzolo, Modolo, Porsev, Hofland, and Savitskiy


The stage winner, André Greipel, said in the press conference: “I’ve always been a bit of an underdog so it’s not too bad for an underdog to reach twenty stage victories in Grand Tours. I’m proud of it. It’s also thanks to teamwork. Experience pays off. Caleb Ewan chose the wrong side to try and pass me today. I knew the crosswind was coming from the left side so I wasn’t going to let anyone pass me on my right. Caleb’s time will come. I understand if the fans are not happy with my decision to abandon tonight but I have a lot of respect for Giro and I hope I can come back to fight for the Maglia Rossa one time. This year, I’ve had a difficult start to the season, what with crashes and chasing good form. I fought hard to be in this shape for the Giro. I’m a human being, not a machine. This 12th stage was always to be my last one. I had to take this decision with my coach and my team to prepare for the upcoming goals.”

The Maglia Rosa, Bob Jungels, said in the press conference: “I haven’t done any of the climbs of the Giro yet so it will be a surprise for me tomorrow and the next few days. But I’m ready to fight for the jersey. I’ve showed my form is good. Maybe it’s up to the favourites to say if they see me as a GC contender. For me it’s the first time to be in this situation. I didn’t expect to take the Maglia Rosa at all. I’m still in it after the 12th stage going to the big mountains, and it’s a great pleasure.”

Canadians :  Hugo Houle 56th, Ryder Hesjedal 66th, Svein Tuft 141st all at the same time as winner.

Results from Italy