MADRID, 16 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The French cyclist Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal QuickStep) won this Thursday the twelfth stage of the Giro d’Italia, held between Martinsicuro and Fano over 193 kilometers, to achieve his first victory in the Italian race and claim his great quality, while the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) remains the leader.
After a stage that was reminiscent of one of the spring classics that have so often elevated the French cyclist, winner of three Flechas Wallonne, a Milan-San Remo and a Strade Bianche, the race had a dizzying pace from start to finish. With 122 kilometers to go, the double world champion jumped from the peloton after initial attempts to escape.
Along with him, the Italian Mirco Maestri (Polti Kometa) attacked, forming a duo that traveled alone for more than 100 kilometers. Behind, other riders moved such as Attila Valter (Visma-Lease a Bike), the Spanish Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar), who had precisely snatched the victory from Alaphilippe just a week ago, his teammate Nairo Quintana, or the winner and first ‘ pink jersey’ of this edition, the Ecuadorian Jhonathan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers).
After more than half a day together, Alaphilippe finally managed to let go of his adventure partner on a climb with 11 kilometers to go. Despite the attacks from behind by Narváez and Quinten Hermans (Alpecin Deceuninck), those 40 seconds of advantage were enough to end up raising his arms in a Giro and take revenge for the defeat in the final sprint of the sixth day against Pelayo Sánchez and after having tried to attack on other days.
In this way, the French cyclist achieves his first victory in the Italian race and his seventh in a Grand Tour after the six stage wins in the Tour de France, and also vindicates himself after criticism from his team’s CEO Patrick Lefevere, who He accused him of “drinking too much alcohol” and even threatened to fire him.
In the peloton, the wind made its presence known and caused cuts in the group, with the prominence of Bahrain-Victorious and BORA-Hansgrohe, who tried to take advantage of the situation to open a gap, although neither favorite lost time at the finish line in Fano , and the differences remain stable in the general classification
This Friday, the transalpine round will face its thirteenth stage, completely flat over 179 kilometers between Riccione and Cento, which will be a transition towards the big weekend with the individual time trial on Saturday and the big stage on Sunday, with the Mortirolo on its route .
–CLASSIFICATIONS.
-Stage.
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/Soudal QuickStep) 4:07:44.
2. Jhonatan Narváez (ECU/Ineos Grenadiers) at 31.
3. Quinten Hermans (BEL/Alpecin Deceuninck) 32.
4. Michael Valgren (DIN/EC-Easy Post) 43.
5. Christian Scaroni (ITA/Astana Qazaqstan Team) mt
-General.
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE Team Emirates) 45:22:35.
2. Daniel Felipe Martínez (COL/BORA-hansgrohe) at 2:40.
3. Geraint Thomas (GBR/INEOS Grenadiers) 2:56.
4. Ben O’Connor (AUS/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) 3:39.
5. Antonio Tiberi (ITA/Bahrain-Victorious) 4:27.
2024-05-16 14:49:36
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