Giro d'Italia 2024: Magnificent comeback! Julian Alaphilippe reports back with a mega escape
Thomas Huber
· 16.05.2024
The 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2024 from Martinsicuro to Fano was dominated by one rider: Julian Alaphilippe. The Soudal - Quick Step rider broke away 126 kilometres before the finish together with Mirco Maestri (Polti-Kometa). The breakaway duo harmonised magnificently before Alaphilippe broke away from the Italian on the final climb twelve kilometres before the finish and then won the stage in impressive style. A nine-man chasing group led by Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), both of whom had already won a stage at the Giro 2024, were also unable to pose a threat to Alaphilippe. After a long sporting dry spell, the former world champion has made an impressive comeback. The Frenchman has now won at least one stage in each of the three Grand Tours.
Alaphilippe takes advantage of disunity in the chasing group
In the meantime, a chasing group of almost 40 riders formed behind the leading duo, which then split up. Nine riders around Jhonatan Narvaez, Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) and Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took up the pursuit of the leading duo 80 kilometres before the finish. However, the riders repeatedly disagreed on the pace, so that the gap to the leaders only fell to under a minute very late on. Because Alaphilippe and Maestri harmonised very well, the Frenchman managed to bring his lead to the finish line. Behind him, Jhonatan Narvaez and Quinten Hermans took second and third place, around half a minute behind. Meanwhile, there were no shifts in the overall classification.
I have to thank my team-mates, who controlled the start of the race well. Maestri and I worked together brilliantly, he also deserved to win. It was my dream to win a stage at the Giro, now I've done it. I'm super happy. - Julian Alaphilippe in the winner's interview
Giro d'Italia 2024: Results - the top 10 of stage 12
- Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) 4:07:44
- Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:31
- Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:32
- Michael Valgren (EF Education EasyPost) +0:43
- Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +0:43
- Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +1:30
- Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) +1:30
- Gijs Leemreize (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +1:30
- Mirco Maestri (Polti-Kometa) +1:30
- Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) +1:30
The current standings in the overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 45:22:35
- Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:40
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +2:56
- Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +3:39
- Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +4:27
- Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +4:57
- Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan) +5:19
- Filippo Zana (Team Jayco-AlUla) +5:23
- One Rubio (Movistar) +5:28
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) +5:52
How the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2024 went
Due to the hilly terrain of the stage, a breakaway victory on stage 12 was not unlikely. Accordingly, many riders tried to get into the leading group of the day. The race was hectic right from the start, at times even confusing. On the first part of the route, a flat section along the coast, no group was able to break away decisively. Roel van Sintmaartensdijk (Intermarche-Wanty), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) and Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) rode at the front at times, but never got more than a minute ahead of the peloton. The trio was caught again 155 kilometres from the finish.
A new leading group formed, consisting of Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech), Michael Hepburn (Team Jayco-AlUla), Mirco Maestri and Edoardo Affini (Visma | Lease a Bike). Then it was onto the first climb, where Julian Alaphilippe initially caught up with the four leaders with five companions. A little later, Pelayo Sanchez (Movistar) joined him, so that there were ten riders at the front, followed by two larger chasing groups that broke away from the peloton.
Maestri and Alaphilippe attack
While Alaphilippe and Mirco Maestri broke away from the leading group again with 126 kilometres to go and quickly built up a substantial lead, the three groups behind them converged, resulting in a chasing group of almost 40 riders ahead of the peloton. The most dangerous rider in the chasing group in the overall classification was Jan Hirt (Soudal - Quick Step), 5:57 minutes behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). This meant that Team Soudal - Quick Step was on a double mission on stage 12: to take the stage win with Alaphilippe and to improve Hirt's position in the overall classification.
Around 80 kilometres before the finish, the chasing group flew apart. Nine riders were able to break away. Among them were Jonathan Narvaez, Benjamin Thomas, Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Michael Valgren (EF Education EasyPost) and Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech). The riders were slow to close in on the leading duo.
Bahrain-Victorious works in the peloton
Meanwhile, Bahrain-Victorious took command of the peloton, working for captain Antonio Tiberi. The aim was to prevent Hirt from overtaking the Italians in the classification. The team from Bahrain succeeded in doing so: around 15 kilometres before the finish, the larger chasing group was swallowed up by the peloton and the effort was rewarded.
Alaphilippe and Maestri harmonised magnificently at the front of the peloton, while there were repeated disagreements in the nine-man chasing group. For a long time, the leaders' lead stagnated at around one and a half minutes - and the chasers increasingly ran out of time.
Alaphilippe celebrates solo victory
Alaphilippe then easily left Maestri behind on the final climb and set off on his way to a solo victory. Behind him, the lead was now less than a minute, but ten kilometres from the finish this was enough. Narvaez and Hermans were able to break away from their rivals in the chasing group and overtake Maestri, but they were unable to put Alaphilippe under pressure. As a result, the Frenchman snatched the stage win, finishing half a minute ahead of Narvaez and Hermans.
