The final bend 350 metres before the finish was decisive for the outcome of the 172-kilometre stage between Modena and Viadana. The sharp left-hand bend stretched out the field of sprinters, and those who didn't make it to the front had no chance of victory. This was the case for Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek), who passed the key section in seventh place, then reached a high final speed, but only finished fourth because he had started too far back.

Visma | Lease a Bike did better. Wout van Aert led his sprinter Kooij through the bend in first place. The 23-year-old Dutchman had a safe rear wheel there and was able to enjoy further slipstreaming when Casper van Uden (Team Picnic PostNL) passed him. The day's winner of the fourth stage in Lecce came from fourth position and was also in the wind for quite a long time when Kooij only had to pass him to take his 40th professional victory. Third place went to Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers), who did not have the final speed to keep up with the pure sprinters, but came out of the bend well on Kooij's rear wheel.

Kooij: "Only Wout can drive such a sprint"

"We've been waiting for this win. I've been waiting for this victory," said the 23-year-old in the winner's interview. "The previous two sprints didn't go well for me, so I'm all the happier that it worked out today." Kooij finished second in van Uden's victory in Lecce, but in Napoli he was unable to make a real impact due to his position on the barriers and finished tenth.

"Only Wout can start such a long sprint," said Kooij, delighted with the Belgian's strong support. "Having him is worth so much. I have to thank him and the whole team, because they all did a fantastic job." For Kooij, it was his second at Grand Tour level after winning the Giro last year. The best German was Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team).

Meanwhile, Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates - XRG) remains the man in the pink jersey. The Mexican even made up two seconds on his closest rivals in the classification thanks to two bonus seconds on the Red Bull kilometre. By the time the bonus sprint was on the agenda, part of the breakaway trio that dominated the day had already been caught. Otherwise, nothing changed in the top 10.

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>> The 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025 in detail

Giro d'Italia 2025 - Results of the 12th stage

This is how the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025 went

After the previous day's group had been extremely competitive, Giosuè Epis (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Andrea Pietrobon (Team Polti VisitMalta) and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè) had no problems at all breaking away from the peloton shortly after the start. The peloton, which was mainly led by Visma | Lease a Bike, allowed them a maximum of three minutes.

While Tarozzi secured the first mountain classification (3rd category), Pietrobon was ahead at the first intermediate sprint. Fortunato and Pedersen secured the points left over from the breakaway for their jerseys. Apart from the classifications, little happened on the road. Tarozzi also secured the second mountain classification (3rd category) and Epis the second sprint. However, the gap to the rest of the peloton then narrowed quite quickly. The fear of the expected strong crosswinds ensured a high pace, so that the escapees were almost caught 45 kilometres before the finish.

Shortly before the Red Bull kilometre it happened, at least for two of them. Pietrobon saved a mini lead over the scoring line. Behind him, INEOS Grenadiers sent Kim Heiduk out to take seconds off the competition. However, this was only partially successful, as del Toro finished third and secured two of them.

Meanwhile, Pietrobon dragged himself quite a way ahead of the peloton. Until 26.6 kilometres before the finish, or in other words: until the finish line. However, the final circuit was still on the programme, which the peloton tackled together. Nothing else happened on it. The sprinter teams sorted themselves out - with the best ending for Visma | Lease a Bike, which rode around the key bend 350 metres before the finish with van Aert and Kooij in the first two positions. Kooij did not let the good starting position be taken away from him and rode soiuverän to victory.