182 kilometres of pancake flat road will greet the peloton for Stage 12 of the 2016 Giro d’Italia, marking one of the last pure sprint stages. Catch all the live coverage coming out of Italy on The Roar from 10:30pm (AEST).
Young Luxembourger Bob Jungels holds on to the Maglia Rosa to start another stage in pink, after extending his lead atop the General Classification standings by another 13 seconds in yesterday’s Stage 11.
The riders can save the legs today as they tackle the least technical stage of the race without any undulations and nice wide open roads to glide through the province of Venice.
Without any climbs in the stage, there’ll be some heated battles for the two intermediate sprints and precious sprinters classification points – especially now that current leader Andre Greipel is likely to pull out of the race after this stage, leaving the red jersey up for grabs.
Starting in Noale, the tour is truly hitting the north of Italy as the riders head further up the east coast to the tourist haven of Bibione, a town that literally has more tourists and resorts than permanent residents.
Setting off just after midday Italian time, the riders will hit the intermediate sprints at the 95 and 131 kilometre marks, before running into the final circuits within Bibione.
That final 8-kilometre circuit, riden twice, will really be the only test for the riders in Stage 12, having to navigate 14 curves with a mix of 90-degree turns at the back of face paced straights.
For a more in depth preview of the stage, make sure to check out Bendon Vella’s top notch analysis of the tour, look no further.
Prediction
This will no doubt be a bunch sprint and it suits the powerful riders to a tee. Expected to drop out after this stage, Andre Greipel will want to finish an already strong tour on a high and it is hard to see him losing out.
Join The Roar for all the Stage 12 action of the 2016 Giro d’Italia from 10:30pm (AEST).
Connor Bennett
Editor
So the Giro has now lost this years two main stage winners in Greipel and Kittel as they head towards the third week. Lotto-Soudal ran a near perfect race for their main man Greipel and the result shows, but a never say die fight from Aussie Caleb Ewan saw him challenge for the win in the final sprint to snag second place. Bob Jungles remains on top of the GC as he heads towards the hills wearing pink. Thanks for joining me tonight/this morning and make sure to join The Roar for tomorrow's live coverage of Stage 13 with Scott Pryde
Connor Bennett
Editor
Humble as ever in the post race interview, Greipel has confirmed his intentions on leaving the tour after today's stage. Not a surprising move with the mountains coming up but still disappointing to see the red jersey off the German who entertains so much
Connor Bennett
Editor
General Classification Standings after Stage 12: No changes to the standings or times at all but just a rehash of the current fight for Maglia Rosa. 1 Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx - Quick-Step 49:32:20 2 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 00:00:24 3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 00:01:07 4 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 00:01:09 6 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff Team 00:02:01 7 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 00:02:25 8 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge 00:02:43 9 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step 00:02:45 10 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre - Merida 00:02:47
Connor Bennett
Editor
Stage 12 Results: This is the order of the riders at the stage distance end, not at the time stop on the penultimate lap of the circuit. 1 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 04:16:00 2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 4 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre - Merida 5 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Team Katusha 6 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 7 Ivan Savitskiy (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 8 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling 9 Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team 10 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
Connor Bennett
Editor
In terms of the GC, Bob Jungles will hold onto the Maglia Rosa with absolutely zero changes to the pink jersey standings, mostly in part to the neutralised finish.
Connor Bennett
Editor
Caleb Ewan fought his little heart out to get in position for the final stretch but you have to remember, he's still only 21 and yet to reach his physical peak, he has a huge future ahead of him.
Connor Bennett
Editor
A perfectly worked race by Lotto-Soudal today and they just dominated the stage, especially at the end in the tight street circuits where road position was everything.
Connor Bennett
Editor
Andre Greipel wins Stage 12
Connor Bennett
Editor
Ewan had the speed to get past but Greipel's defensive drift across to the fence saved him there. Nothing Ewan could do once the gate was shut on the inside and he had to surrender
Connor Bennett
Editor
Greipel on the wheel of his lead out and Ewan behind him. Coming into the last corner before the short sprint finish... Greipel is off and Ewan follows!! Ewan looks up the inside line along the fence but Greipel shuts him off!! And that's all she wrote, Greipel takes another stage of Giro 2016
Connor Bennett
Editor
Lotto have so much power at the front with four men blocking any moves. Ewan struggling to get into position but he's sticking with the wheel of Greipel with less than 1 kilometre to go
Connor Bennett
Editor
Ewan makes another move on the fourth wheel behind Greipel who advances with him.
Connor Bennett
Editor
2km to go and there's riders all over the place!! Jostling for position and it's still a lot of Lotto at the front with four riders deep
Connor Bennett
Editor
Ewan has muscled his way in behind Greipel. Should be an intense finish between those two if Ewan can get the jump right off the last corner
Connor Bennett
Editor
Some Dimension Data riders working up in behind Lotto and they have three men there. Really getting into the mix of the red jerseys of Lotto now to break up the pack
Connor Bennett
Editor
5km to go and 6 corners.
Connor Bennett
Editor
I've said it a hundred times but Lotto-Soudal are just dominating out front. Six wheels deep at the front of the pack and defending the width of the road like it's their grandmothers house!!
Connor Bennett
Editor
Ewan has slipped back a touch in that last lap, he's fighting to get back up into position now for the final sprint but it will be a tough job for the 21-year old now
Connor Bennett
Editor
1 lap to go!! 8 kilometres of fast paced sprinting action as the GC riders settle off the back now with their times in the bank
Connor Bennett
Editor
Bardiani get two riders sprinting up the inside of the pack leaders but again!! They're just closed off big time by Lotto and sent back into the mess