FANO: Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe’s early break paid off. The Soudal Quick-Step rider bravely held off the chasers to win stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday, with Tadej Pogacar keeping his preserve at the leader’s jersey.
The 193-km ride from Martinsicuro to Fano featured sufficient climbs to offer those inclined to danger attacking a threat and deny the sprinters every other level win, and Alaphilippe’s methods paid off.
Alaphilippe has won six stages at the Tour de France and a stage of the Vuelta a Espana and completed his full set of grand Tour wins in his first-ever Giro d’Italia.
He joined a breakaway group that grew to 10 riders with 130 kilometres still to race, but then he took off along with Mirco Maestri, and the pair held off a large chasing pack behind them.
The plan wasn’t to do 125km like this but with a big group,” the winner said. Mirco Maestri’s cooperation was excellent, and he also deserved the stage win.
Maestri ran out of steam, and Alaphilippe went alone with less than 15km left
With Quinten Hermans and Jhonatan Narvaez closing in, the French rider had the legs to make it to the line, with Ecuador’s Narvaez taking second ahead of Hermans.
I always believed I could win, but until the last kilometres, I had to push full gas. The chasers were close behind me,” Alaphilippe said.
Alaphilippe came close to winning stage six as part of a three-person breakaway but was beaten on the line by Pelayo Sanchez. This time, he had 31 seconds to spare at the finish.
Narvaez of Ineos Grenadiers, who won stage one, looked for another victory in his sights but could not reel in the leader. The 31-year-old could finally celebrate a stage win at the Giro, three years after his last grand Tour victory.
“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,” Alaphilippe said.
Race leader Pogacar was happy to sit back in the peloton, which finished over five minutes behind the winner. The Slovenian, who came in 13th, maintains his two-minute and 40-second lead over Daniel Felipe Martinez of Bora-Hansgrohe.
“laphilippe showed that hhe’sback. What he did is actually incredible. This is what champions do, “Ogacar said.
“L” ckily, we have a good gap in GC (general classification). I would have liked to try and win this stage if I hadn’t been here for GC, but I would have preferred to do GC.
