The 24-year-old Italian rider Stefano Oldani (Alpecin-Fenix) won the 12th stage of the Giro this Thursday in Genoa, ahead of his two breakaway companions, and thus won the very first victory of his career. Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo), who arrived nine minutes later with the peloton, remains in pink.
He was born in Milan a little over 24 years ago, and it was 150 kilometers away, in Genoa, that Stefano Oldani won the very first victory of his career, on the occasion of his third Giro. The Alpecin-Fenix rider won in the sprint ahead of his two breakaway companions, Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma), who were also aiming for the first victory of their careers, but who will still have to wait. With three riders present in the breakaway of the day, which had 25, including a certain Mathieu van der Poel, Alpecin-Fenix was in numerical superiority, and was therefore rewarded for its audacity. We had to be patient, but the breakaway of the day ended up forming after 75 very fast first kilometers, when all the attempts had been unsuccessful until then and Arnaud Démarre had just won the intermediate sprint and thus consolidated his cyclamen jersey (8th in this ranking, Caleb Ewan had not started).
No French in the breakaway of the day
22 riders fled, quickly joined by a trio: Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF Education-Easypost), Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma), Pascal Eenkhoorn (Jumbo-Visma), Nico Denz (DSM), Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Andrea Vendrame (AG2R-Citroën), Davide Ballerini (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Stefano Oldani (Alpecin-Fenix), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Rein Taaramae (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert. Matériaux), Matteo Sobrero (BikeExchange-Jayco), Oscar Riesebeek (Alpecin-Fenix), Simone Consonni (Cofidis), Lucas Hamilton (BikeExchange-Jayco), Michael Schwarzmann (Lotto-Soudal), Valerio Conti (Astana Qazakstan), Vincenzo Albanese (EOLO-Kometa), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe), Will Barta (Movistar) and Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), then Luca Covili (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane), Edoardo Zardini (DroneHopper Androni Giocattoli) and Davide Gaburro (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane) who joined them.
The trio leaves for La Colletta
Wilco Kelderman, who looked like an outsider at the start in Budapest but lost a lot of time at the Blockhaus, was the best ranked in this breakaway, 11’02 behind Juan Pedro Lopez. His compatriot Bauke Mollema took the lead at Passo del Bocco, a pass the peloton had taken for the first time since 2011 and Wouter Weylandt’s fatal fall on the descent. It was on the second 3rd category climb of the day, La Colletta, that this stage was played out, with the attack of Lorenzo Rota, joined in the descent by Stefano Oldani and Gijs Leemreize. At the foot of the last climb, the Valco di Transasco, the trio was 51 seconds ahead of the other breakaways and 6’07 over the peloton. Remained to hold until the arrival (which was not the case for van der Poel, who completely broke down on the last ascent), which the three men managed to do without any problem, to play for victory. The peloton, with the Juan Pedro Lopez jersey in it, arrived 9’08 of the day. The Spaniard remains in the lead (Romain Bardet 4th at 14 seconds), but Wilco Kelderman does the right job of the day, gaining ten places to find himself thirteenth at 2’51. Friday, 150 kilometers will be on the program, with a 3rd category climb at kilometer 55.
WORLD TOUR / GIRO
Classification of the 12th stage (Parma-Genoa, 204km) – Thursday May 19, 2022
1- Stefano Oldani (ITA / Alpecin-Fenix) in 4h26’47
2- Lorenzo Rota (ITA/Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materials) mt
3- Gijs Leemreize (PBS/Jumbo-Visma) at 2″
4- Bauke Mollema (PBS/Trek-Segafredo) at 57″
5- Santiago Buitrago (COL/Bahrain Victorious) at 57″
6- Wilco Kelderman (PSB / Bora-Hansgrohe) at 57″
7- Lucas Hamilton (AUS/BikeExchange-Jayco) at 57″
8- Andrea Vendrame (ITA / AG2R-Citroën) at 1’44
9- Rein Taaramae (EST / Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert. Materials) at 1’49
10- Pascal Eenkhoorn (PBS/Jumbo-Visma) at 2’55
…
23- Romain Combaud (FRA/DSM) at 9’08
…
General classification after 12 stages (out of 21)
1- Juan Pedro Lopez (ESP/Trek-Segafredo) in 51h19’07 »
2- Richard Carapaz (EQU / Ineos Grenadiers) at 12 »
3- João Almeida (POR/UAE Team Emirates) at 12 »
4- Romain Bardet (FRA/DSM) at 14 »
5- Jai Hindley (AUS/Bora-Hansgrohe) at 20 »
6- Guillaume Martin (FRA/Cofidis) at 28 »
7- Mikel Landa (ESP/Bahrain Victorious) at 32 »
8- Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) at 54 »
9- Emanuel Buchmann (GER/Bora-Hansgrohe) at 1’09 »
10- Alejandro Valverde (ESP/Movistar) at 1’23 »
…
#Oldani #opens #prize #list
