Julian Alaphilippe redeems himself with a great performance in the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2024

Authentic trap stage in the Giro d'Italia 2024 where the organization gave us a whole classic that if they told you that you were watching the Amstel Gold Race, you would have believed it and in which Julian Alaphilippe, who had been trying all week without success, finally manages to recover the path to victory, something he had not done since last year when he won the second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Julian Alaphilippe wins again almost a year after his last victory

A beautiful stage that we have been able to enjoy today in the Giro d'Italia 2024, a day in which, without anything happening in terms of the general classification, we have been able to see cycling of high quality from some of the most notable names in the peloton who did not want to miss out on a day with a configuration more typical of a classic than a grand tour stage.

A stage, the twelfth of this Giro d'Italia 2024, that ran along the Adriatic coast between Martinsicuro and Fano, 193 kilometers with a completely flat first part after which, the race ventured a bit inland to face a route with narrow roads and constant climbs among which several walls categorized as 4th category stood out, the last of them, this last one not scoring, located just 10 km from the finish with ramps of up to 20%.

As expected, the stage started very fast, with continuous attacks on the flat section that did not succeed. It was necessary to wait for the beginning of the climbs for a quartet to form in which Simon Clarke, Michael Hepburn, Mirco Maestri, and Edoardo Affini were integrated, to which people of the caliber of Naváez, Alaphilippe, Ganna, Hermans, Nairo Quintana, Pelayo, Sánchez, or Juanpe López would join. Up to 36 cyclists came to ride in this group when finally the peloton accepted the breakaway.

Obviously, with so many riders ahead, hostilities soon began among them trying to select and the first to do so, more than 100 kilometers from the finish, was one of the most combative of the Giro d'Italia 2024, Julian Alaphilippe, who this time did not want to speculate after coming close to victory a few days ago in the gravel stage that was snatched from him in the final meters by Pelayo Sánchez.

The Frenchman attacked and Mirco Maestri went with him in a typical move that seemed to be going nowhere but gradually opened a gap until surpassing the minute of difference. Behind, as usually happens in these situations, attacks intensified trying to reach the leaders but none succeeded. Movements that only served to select this group until finally, it was reduced to 9 riders: Narvaez, Hermans, Scaroni, Benjamin Thomas, Valgren, Smith, Clarke, Leemreize, and Trentin. The rest would eventually give in and be caught by the peloton.

In the main group, things were not as calm as one might assume given the race situation, as between walls there were wide open spaces where crosswinds played a role and, when it wasn't UAE Team Emirates, it was Bahrain-Victorious who closed the gaps and increased the pace to seek maximum fatigue from their rivals, even trying to split the group at some point although without success.

Everything was to be decided on the last wall, Monte Giove, where the leading duo started the climb with just a minute of difference. Alaphilippe wasted no time and attacked his breakaway companion, who had shown signs of weakness in previous climbs. Behind, Quiten Hermans and Jhonatan Narváez were the strongest and stood out on the wall but could not reduce the gap to a resplendent Julian Alaphilippe in the final kilometers, crossing the finish line ecstatic after the long drought of victories or the difficult situation he has had to endure within his team due to the harsh statements of Patrick Lefevere a few months ago.

Meanwhile, in the peloton, the arrival at the wall was almost a relief from the tension that had been building in the previous kilometers and, without further hostilities, they reached the finish line without changes in the general classification.

Stage 12 Classification

1. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) 4h07'44''
2. Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers) +31''
3. Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +32''
4. Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost) +43''
5. Christian Scaroni (Astana) +43''
6. Matteo Trentin (Tudor) +1'30''
7. Simon Clarke (Israel-PremierTech) +1'30''
8. Gijs Leemreize (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) +1'30''
9. Mirco Maestri (Polti-Kometa) +1'30''
10. Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) +1'30''

General Classification

1. Tadej Poga?ar (UAE Team Emirates) 45h22'35''
2. Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2'40''
3. Geraint Thomas (INEOS-Grenadiers) +2'56''
4. Ben O'Connor (INEOS-Grenadiers) +3'39''
5. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +4'27''
6. Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) +4'57''
7. Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana) +5'19''
8. Filipo Zana (Jayco-AlUla) +5'23''
9. Einet Rubio (Movistar Team) +5'28''
10. Thymen Arensman (INEOS-Grenadiers) +5'52''