That was a fun Giro d’Italia stage. Proof that transition stages that are as good as arrow straight and whose main purpose is to get the peloton towards the mountains needn’t be uninteresting and rudimentary. Attacks were forthcoming, sprinters were dropped, and a whole host of riders believed they could win. In the end, it was a pre-planned and well-executed late attack by Alec Segaert that took the honours – but the entire peloton felt the effects under stifling heat.
For too many years the Giro has been accused of being a slow-burner, with its back-loaded final week often relegating most but not all of the first fortnight of action to a simple shrug-of-the-shoulders. As the peloton and the watching public wait for the Alps and Dolomites, hoping that illness or injury doesn’t claim too many riders, stages one to 15 are typically filed away as highlights-viewing only. To date, though, RCS, the Giro’s organisers, have rebuffed calls to shake up the race and drop in the biggest mountain stages in the second week – something the Tour de France hasn’t been averse to doing in recent years.
Instead, RCS have doubled down on their playbook and looked for ways to make the middle week’s stages meaningful and exciting. They succeeded with stage 10’s 42km time trial which didn’t see Jonas Vingegaard stamp his authority on the race, and would have been content with stage 11’s lumpy finale that eventuated with Jhonatan Narváez winning for the third time. Stage 12 looked more vanilla than spicy – but what it served up was unpredictable racing.
The 175km stage from Imperia to Novi Ligure looked prime breakaway territory. An early uncategorised climb was followed by 90km of flat roads that preceded two category three ascents, with a fast downhill and undulating finish offering plenty of opportunities for escapees to make their race-winning moves. A sizeable break featuring big names didn’t materialise, however, and the six who got away were never permitted an advantage greater than two minutes. The action was to ramp up early.
Alec Segaert won stage 12 in Novi Ligure (Image credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Aware that the peloton was increasingly breathing down their neck, fractures emerged among the breakaway companions. Movistar, led by Enric Mas, set a searing pace at the front, hoping to deliver Orluis Aular the stage win he felt he had been robbed of on stage four. NSN, with both Ethan Vernon and Corbin Strong among their ranks, aided Movistar.
The break was caught, and the sprinters – Paul Magnier, Jonathan Milan, Casper van Uden and more – all failed to hang on. Over the top of Bric Berton, a beautiful climb looking even more blissful under the bright sunny skies, and the fastmen had a 90 second gap to cut if they wanted to contest the finish.
Enter alliances rarely seen. Magnier and Milan, bunch sprints foes, turned friends, deciding to park their rivalry in order to give themselves a chance of returning to the peloton. It didn’t work and they remained very much off the back, but they expanded as much if not more energy than if they had managed to keep contact. This was no snoozy day for them either.
The kilometres ticked down and a showdown between the fast-finishing rouleurs beckoned. But there would be unexpected GC movement: Afonso Eulálio, the man who no one, least of all him, still expected to be in the race lead at this juncture, clipped off the front and claimed six bonus seconds at the Red Bull KM. He won’t win this Giro, but such a move highlights how comfortable he feels in his pink surroundings, and demonstrates a canny tactical shrewdness that’ll serve the 24-year-old well in the future.
(Image credit: Zac Williams/ SWpix.com)
It wasn’t to be Bahrain-Victorious’s only masterplan. Aular, Vernon, Narváez (again!) Guillermo Thomas Silva and Toon Aerts readied themselves for a finish line shootout but Segeart had other ideas. Executing a move that he had dreamt up the night before, the 23-year-old succeeded with the sort of late-stage attack he’s been threatening to pull off for quite some time. The Belgian attacked with 3.5km to go and a fractured chase group hamstrung by Visma-Lease a Bike’s indifference failed to make the catch, giving Segeart enough time to take in his first Grand Tour stage victory before he crossed the line.
“I’m shaking, that’s how special it is,” said Bahrain coach and Segeart’s brother, Loïc. “We knew it would be a potential chance for him but it’s always such a thin line between making it or not. You have one moment to go, with 3km to go when the bunch is a bit stretched, and he took it. Absolutely amazing.” So too was the entire stage. There was a will-they-won’t-they feel about the entire day’s racing with plenty of subplots thrown in for good measure. That’s what transition stages ought to be like. More of that tomorrow, per favore.
