Giro d'Italia 2023: Nico Denz wins 12th stage after a long breakaway attempt
Sebastian Lindner
· 18.05.2023
Denz and 29 other riders were part of the day's group that formed on the first climb of the day on the 185-kilometre section between Bra and Rivoli.
Denz launched the decisive attack 90 kilometres before the finish with three other breakaway riders, who also tackled the final climb together. There, the 29-year-old saved himself with Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) and Sebastian Berwick (Israel - Premier-Tech) over the crest and proved to be the strongest in the final kilometres to the finish.
Denz was also unbeatable in the sprint on the home straight. Skujins came second and Berwick third. Michel Hessmann (Jumbo-Visma) rounded off the strong result from a German perspective in ninth place. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) defended the pink jersey, the top 10 in the overall standings remained unchanged.
Nico Denz reveals: Bora's plan looked different
"It was difficult to get into the group, but the hardest moment for me was the last climb," Denz described his stage progression on the Eurosport microphone. "When I got to the top, I was completely exhausted. But I recovered a bit on the descent. And when nobody attacked me on the small wave, I thought I'd give it a go."
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Bora-Hansgrohe's original plan was actually different. Patrick Konrad, who ultimately made it through, and Bob Jungels were actually supposed to go into the group, Denz revealed. "But then Bob said that he wasn't feeling so good and wanted to save some energy for tomorrow to be there for Lenny (Kämna). That was my wildcard," said the German professional cyclist, who celebrated his fourth victory as a pro and won the Successful streak for the Germans after Pascal Ackermann's victory (UAE Team Emirates) from the previous day.
Skujins, on the other hand, was disappointed but a fair loser. "We had a big group at the start that I couldn't have won from. That's why the plan was to try something early on. Suddenly we had the gap. We then rode as hard as we could up the mountain. We tried to shake Nico off, but he stayed on and then won." When asked what he could have done differently, he replied: "Maybe I could have told Nico not to sprint."
The top 10 of the 12th stage:
- Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) 4:18:11
- Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) +0:00
- Sebastian Berwick (Israel-Premier-Tech) +0:03
- Alessandro Tonelli (Green Project - Bardiani CSF - Faizane) +0:58
- Marco Frigo (Israel - Premier-Tech) +2:07
- Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal - Quick Step) +2:20
- Alberto Bettiol (EF Education EasyPost) +2:20
- Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +2:20
- Michel Hessmann (Jumbo-Visma) +2:20
- Alex Baudin (AG2R-Citroën Team) +2:20
On the other hand, four more riders have to be added to the list of retired riders. After Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates) did not start after his crash injuries from the previous day, Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Mikael Cherel (AG2R-Citroen Team) and Ham Vanhoucke (Team DSM) had to abandon the race due to illness.
How the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023 went
The stage started in Bra in dry conditions. It took a while for the first breakaway riders to get away, but then it was a group of 27 riders. Among them were: Nico Denz, Patrick Konrad (both Bora - Hansgrohe), Jasha Sütterlin (Bahrain Victorious), Michel Hessmann, Sepp Kuss (both Jumbo - Visma), Mads Pedersen (Trek - Segafredo), Michael Matthews (Jayco - AlUla), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education EasyPost), Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) and Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal - Quick-Step).
Slowly but surely, the group extended its lead, but it didn't get more than three minutes for the time being. Only 90 kilometres before the end did something happen. That's when Denz and Alessandro Tonelli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizane), Sebastian Berwick (Israel - Premier Tech) and Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), who were also part of the breakaway, broke away. They had quickly opened up a two-minute lead on their former fellow breakaway riders - in the rain that had started to fall again in the meantime.
Nico Denz unbeatable in the sprint
From then on, the peloton gave in and let the lead grow to more than eight minutes, while the leading quartet went into the almost eleven kilometre long climb to Colle Braida with three minutes. While Tonelli had to let go relatively quickly, Denz fought his way over the crest on the rear wheel of his remaining companions.
The lead over the first chasers around Bettiol and Formolo was still around three minutes - with only 27 kilometres to go, the day's winner seemed to come from the leading trio.
Denz attacked on the last wave of the race eleven kilometres before the finish and was able to break away from Skujins and Berwick, at least briefly. While the Latvian was quickly back on the front, Berwick took a little longer but was able to catch up again. And so the trio came together for the final kilometre, which Denz completed from the front and didn't let anyone past him until the line.
