On Friday, Etixx – Quick-Step's rider will wear the pink jersey for the third day in a row.
Stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia (Noale – Bibione) was a short and pan-flat one, but the race still was tensioned, because of the rain which accompanied the riders since the start, before leaving them with around one hour to go. For that reason, the organizers decided to take the time of the peloton at the first passage on the line, which also meant that there were no more bonus seconds at the finish. After the day’s two escapees – Mirco Maestri (Bardiani-CSF) and Daniel Oss (BMC) – were hauled with 22 kilometers remaining, the sprinters’ teams made their way to the front for the three laps they had to cover on the Bibione circuit.
In the technical closing kilometers, as the riders were speeding up, a crash fragmented the peloton, so only a couple of riders contested the sprint. André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) came out on top, beating Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo). The main bunch rolled in safely around one minute later, and Bob Jungels was there together with his teammates, who protected him since the start of the day on what was the last opportunity for the sprinters in the second week of the Corsa Rosa.
“Today was difficult because of the rain, but we had good clothes for this kind of conditions and it made things easier. The organizers took a wise decision to stop the clock on the circuit, as this helped us arrive safely at the finish line”, said Bob – who’s leading a Grand Tour for the first time in his career – before sharing his thoughts on tomorrow’s stage, one which will include four categorized climbs: “The high mountains await us on Friday and I’m not sure what to expect. My shape is good, but I’m not getting carried away; after all, this is my debut Giro. As I said earlier this week, I will take it day by day and see what happens. All that came and will come since taking the pink jersey is a bonus.”
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
