Giro d'Italia: Segaert flies to Novi Ligure, Eulalio always pink

Alec Segaert won the twelfth stage of the Giro d’Italia, 175 kilometers from Imperia to Novi Ligure: the Bahrain Victorious team rider was ahead of Toon Aerts (Lotto Intermarchè) and Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana Team), both 3 seconds behind.

In the general classification, Portugal’s Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious) remained in the pink jersey and even gained a six-second bonus, consolidating his lead in the standings: now 33 seconds ahead of Visma team champion Jonas Vingegaard, the race’s number one favorite.

These are Segaert’s words after the finish: “It’s great! I had already won at the Giro Next Gen and in the youth categories, but this success really takes me to a higher level. For the team the Giro, with Afonso in the Pink Jersey, was already excellent, so we reach perfection. Last night I was already thinking about the attack, I had to start at -3.”

“This idea was in my head all day, and when I saw that the sprinters were getting tired I started to believe I could do it. I was disgruntled after the time trial, but today I’m over the moon.”

On the general classification front, Bahrain Victorious can smile through gritted teeth: Eulalio consolidates a lead he took in a daring manner on stage 5, when Igor Arrieta’s route mistake — who took a wrong turn 3 kilometers from the finish in Potenza — paved the way for him to take the pink jersey. From that moment on, the Portuguese never left it, even withstanding Vingegaard’s attacks on the toughest climbs, from Blockhaus to Corno alle Scale, where the Dane had signed his two stage wins in this edition.