Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia.
On paper, today looks like it could be a day for the breakaway, or potentially another sprint finish, but this Giro has been full of surprises so far. However, yesterday's stage winner wasn't a surprise.
Jonathan Milan triumphed in the maglia ciclamino in a fast sprint finish.
Today the riders face 193 kilometres from Martinsicuro to Fano and will tackle a series of small climbs along the way.
We'll be bringing you live updates across all of day's racing. Reach out to us on X if you'd like to share your thoughts on the action - @thewlistt or @cyclingweekly
General classification
Here's how the GC looks going into today.
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 41-09:26
2. Daniel Martinez (Col) Bora-Hansgrohe, +2-40
3. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers, +2-56
4. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, +3-39
5. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) bahrain Victorious, +4-27
6. Romain Bardet (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +4-57
7. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan, +5-19
8. Filippo Zana (Ita) Jayco-AIUla, +5-23
9. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, +5-28
10. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +5-52
Fabio Jakobsen abandons
Fabio Jakobsen abandoned the race this morning after coming down in a crash during the finish yesterday.
Not really a surprise.
Wishing Fabio a speedy recovery.
Not the news we wanted to bring this morning as @FabioJakobsen won't start today's #GirodItalia🇮🇹 stage 😔Beterschap, Fabio! We zien je snel ❤️🔗https://t.co/4978JzjwQi pic.twitter.com/YCPNVIpJsaMay 16, 2024
Stage 12 route
It's pretty punchy today as the race heads along the Adriatic coast.
Everything is adding up to this being one for the break today.
Here's a closer look at the route which features over 2,000 metres of climbing. The climbing alone should mean that few sprinters get to the finish at the head of the race.
191km to go: The flag has been dropped and we've got attacks instantly as riders look to immediately form a breakaway.
184 km to go: Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling) is up the road in a three man move.
Looks like this will come to nothing though with the peloton just behind them.
Jonathan Milan, yesterday's stage winner, was off the back of the main field a moment ago getting a bike change.
Looks like that's all sorted and he's back in the main field though.
180km to go: Trentin is really driving that move on. The gap is 22 seconds at the moment and rising.
A handful of other riders are trying to get across from the peloton.
Enzo Paleni (Groupama FDJ) and Roel van Sintmaartensdijk (Intermarche Wanty) are the other two riders with Trentin.
173 km to go: The peloton are flying at the moment and setting a pretty intense pace.
Trentin and his breakaway compatriots are struggling to increase their lead as a result.
Now the bunch seem to have sat up a little and the lead the Trentin group has is now more than 30 seconds.
A handful of guys are trying to orchestrate a move getting across to the leaders.
Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-Easy Post) is one of them.
160 km to go: Simone Velasco (Astana Qazaqstan) is the next man to try and get a group across the gap to the front.
Filippo Ganna is in this group trying to get across.
156km to go: Its all over for now for the Trentin group.
They're almost back in the peloton.
Julian Alaphilippe and Jayco-AIUla's Luke Plapp have managed to join them but I think that whole move will imminently be swept up.
ICYMI...
Away from the Giro, we spoke to Jonas Vingegaard's coach earlier this week.
Tim Heemskerk says his rider is making solid progress in his return from injury with the aim of returning to the Tour de France in June.
153 km to go: Trentin's move has been swept up. A handful of other riders are looking to try and form a new breakaway.
146km to go: We've got a fresh four man group tryingto build an advantage now.
Eduardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike) is one of them.
Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) is also there as is Michael Hepburn (Jayco-AIUla). The other rider is Maestri from Polti Kometa.
That four man move now has 32 seconds advantage.
141km to go: 48 seconds for that group now. This could be the move today.... we will see.
138km to go: We're not too far from the start of the climbs now. The break has 1:10 as the peloton dips under a railway bridge.
We're onto the climbs.
A fair few riders have joined the initial move led by Clarke. We'll give you the full list in a moment. Julian Alaphilippe is in there.
Situation on the road
So our new breakaway has 1:29 on the peloton and there's a small chase group 22 seconds behind.
Here's the leaders:
Jhonotan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers)
Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan)
Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis)
Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech)
Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar)
Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step)
Michael Hepburn (Jayco-AIUla)
Mirco Maestri (Polti Kometa)
Eduardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike)
The chase group is:
Quinten Hermans (Alpecin Deceuninck)
Simone Velasco (Astana Qazaqstan)
Rubén Fernández (Cofidis)
Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost)
Lillian Calmejane (Intermarche-Wanty)
Dion Smith (Same team)
Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek)
Kevin Vermaeke (dsm–firmenich PostNL)
Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling)
124 km to go: Just as I've written that out, Julian Alaphilippe and Maestri have attacked from the break and have gone clear.
Alaphilippe clearly didn't like the look of Movistar's Sánchez joining from behind.
Sánchez beat Alaphilippe to a stage win just a matter of days ago and he clearly doesn't fancy going up against him again.
Hello, Adam Becket here taking over while Tom Thewlis goes on lunch. I'll be talking you through the next hour of break business.
119km to go: There are three groups on the road behind the lead duo of Alaphilippe and Maestri. There's a chasing group, with Narváez and Clarke and the rest, which numbers 17. There's a big group behind, in between them and the peloton, which contains Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Jan Hirt (Soudal Quick-Step), both of whom are reasonably high up the GC. That group has about 13 in it.
The peloton is 2:52 behind the front two, the first chasing group is 33 seconds behind the front, and the second group is 1:32ish behind. It's all happening.
117km to go: It's not entirely clear why Alaphilippe decided to go off the front when he did, considering the power that is behind. 117km is a long way to go, especially with the elevation to come.
117km to go: Jan Hirt of Soudal Quick-Step, who is in the chasing group, is currently 11th in the GC, 5:57 behind Tadej Pogačar. The more time the break takes, the more he is a threat to his rivals overall.
116km to go: On the climb of Recanati, the two chasing groups have come together, with riders off the back too. It's chaos. It's basically a second peloton, with 36-ish riders in it. Alaphilippe and Maestri now have 56 seconds on that group.
115km to go: There is almost a third of all riders up the road, staggeringly. Alaphilippe and Maestri have 1:06 on the chasers, and 3:53 on the peloton. At the first intermediate sprint, Maestri took the points.
There is only one team not in the breakaway. Would you like to guess who?
110km to go: I'm going to try and list the men in the breakaway, and I'll do it by last name because there are too many.
Front duo
Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step)
M Maestri (Polti Kometa)
Second group
Ganna and Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers)
Bayer and Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Costiou and Verre (Arkéa-B&B)
Scaroni and Velasco (Astana-Qazaqstan)
Fernández and Thomas (Cofidis)
A Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
Honoré and Valgren (EF Edudcation-EasyPost)
Pithie and Barthe (Groupama-FDJ)
Calmejane and Smith (Intermarché-Wanty)
Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech)
López (Lidl-Trek)
Quintana and Sánchez (Movistar)
Hirt and Vansevenant (Soudal Quick-Step)
Leemreize and Vermaerke (dsm-firmenich PostNL)
Hepburn and Mezgec (Jayco AlUla)
Piganzoli (Polti Kometa)
Affini and Valter (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Trentin and Kamp (Tudor)
Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates)
Pozzovio and Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè)
Sütterlin (Bahrain-Victorious)
108km: The riders in 11th, 14th, 15th and 17th overall are all in this big breakaway, so they all have the opportunity to charge up the GC if this stays away. Virtually, Jan Hirt is in fourth...
The duo up front have 4:17 on the peloton, with the chasing group having about three minutes.
The team not present in the breakaway at all, by the way, is Bora-Hansgrohe. Give yourself a treat if you got that right.
106km to go: The two up front - Alaphilippe and Maestri - are lloking good, and they've just begun the climb up to the top of Osimo, the first categorised hill of today. There are four fourth-cat climbs today, and a few more uncategorised ones left. 2,162m of climbing over 193km doesn't sound like a tonne, but it seems pretty relentless today.
105km to go: The break now has three minutes on the peloton, and Jan Hirt is closing in on Geraint Thomas' third spot, if it continues like this...
103km to go: This could, in theory, actually open the Giro up a bit more. Well, the battle for the top five, anyway. At the beginning of the day, there were just five riders within five minutes of Tadej Pogačar in the lead, the lowest since 2010. If Hirt, Pozzovivo, López etc could gain some time, then things might look more competitive.
102km to go: For the first time in forever, we have seen the front of the peloton. Bahrain-Victorious are pulling for Antonio Tiberi, who started the day in fifth, 4:27 behind Pogačar. They are gaining time on the chasing group.
UAE Team Emirates are close to the front as well, with the whole team there, save Rui Oliveira, who is in that break.
100km to go: Alaphilippe and Maestri have 4:50 on the peloton, however. They seem well set, but can they make this last for three more hours?
99km to go: At the top of the Osimo climb, Maestri took the three points on offer. Six-ish climbs left to go today, only three of which are categorised. The last comes 10km from the finish, which feels decisive.
97km to go: The peloton is strung out, implying they are chasing hard, but the big breakaway is gaining time again. However, the 36 riders are 2:25 behind the duo up ahead. It's not simple at the moment.
Osimo looks nice, if you were planning a trip to the Marche.
94km to go: The counter attacks have begun! It's Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Deceuninck) who has lit it up, and riders are following. This felt inevitable.
93km to go: The doomed 36-rider mega breakaway on stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia will forever be in our hearts. The cooperation has ended, and the attacks keep coming. Edoardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike) has still found time to snatch a musette.
91km to go: The break has definitely split. Scaroni and Castiou are on the front, with a group following which contains Ganna and about five others. The remainder isn't too far behind. It's relentless!
90km to go: Riders are being dropped. Costiou and Scaroni have distanced those behind; the pair have about ten seconds. Meanwhile, Ganna and Narváez are attacking together.
Alaphilippe and Maestri have about 1:37 on them.
89km to go: About 12 of the original 36 have been jettisoned now, by my eyesight. That is not an exact science. The race is very much on.
88km to go: By the way, the peloton are still over three minutes behind. Ganna is still putting the pressure on.
86km to go: Some Colemanballs from Adam Blythe: "No one wants to close that gap down. Pozzovivo on the front now, and he wants to close that gap down." Private Eye, you can have that for free.
84km to go: Poor Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), who was on the attacker with Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan), who has a problem with his drivetrain. He will need a new Bianchi.
82km to go: It's all together in the chase now. So Alaphilippe and Maestri have 1:45 on the group behind, which now has about 30 riders in it, with the peloton a further 3:50-ish behind.
80km to go: There is actually a split again in the chase, with about 10 in the front one, including Jhonatan Narváez, who have 25 seconds advantage on the rest.
79km to go: Costiou is still waiting for help from his car, he's in the group of ten.
78km to go: Hooray, Costiou is on a bike with a working drivetrain. Sadly for the Frenchman, though, that took him out of the front chase. So that is now nine.
78km to go: Alaphilippe and Maestri, who we haven't seen for ages, are 1:50 up the road from the chasing nine. Oh, there they are! They are still the same.
76km to go: The nine are Narváez, Hermans, Scaroni, A Paret-Peintre, Valgren, Smith, Clarke, Leemreize and Trentin. They are 1:21 behind Alaphilippe and Maestri. The first nine have almost a minute on the rest of the escapees.
Tom Thewlis here.
Picking this back up from Adam and ready to take you through to the finish.
What a stage this is turning out to be.
69km to go: Maestri and Alaphilippe are still out front and riding hard. Could this finally be the Frenchman's day? 1:06 back to the next group of chasers.
This is classic Alaphilippe, more like the Frenchman of a few years ago. Aggressive, daredevil and willing to risk it all.
I still feel like the winner in that chase group is going to get back on terms with the leaders.
There's a lot of firepower behind Maestri and Alaphilippe, including Narvaez.
68km to go: Meanwhile back down the road Bahrain Victorious are driving things pretty hard at the head of the race. Rui Oliveira from UAE was briefly helping out with the pace making there.
Here's a shot of Alaphilippe and Maestri.
Alaphilippe is really riding hard here. He clearly doesnt want to let this slip.
I'm wondering if he's gone a little early here though.
61km to go: The two leaders have 6:16 on the peloton as things stand out on the road.
The stage winner will almost certainly come from the break today.... surprise surprise.
Meanwhile there appears to be a bit of disharmony in the second chase group.
Mauri Vansevenant (Quick-Step) is rocking and rolling on his bike at the back of the group.
58 km to go
55km to go: Jan Hirt (Soudal-Quick Step) will move up to third overall as things stand.
Hirt is in the third group out on the road. Quick-Step have played a blinder so far today with Alaphilippe where he is and other teammates well positioned.
We're onto the penultimate classified climb of the day now.
54km to go: Valter has grown frustrated with the hesitation in the second chase group. He's ridden away from it and is looking to eat into the gap to the second set of chasers.
52km to go: This course is absolutely savage! Some of these climbs are really short but brutally steep. Maestri is starting to look pretty tired whereas Alaphilippe still looks bang up for it.
I wonder what the odds are on him going solo on the next climb.
43.5 km to go: Bahrain are still riding hard on the front of the peloton ;looking to defend Antonio Tiberi's place on GC. If this continues then it's likely that Hirt won't manage to hold onto his current third place.
39 km to go: We're almost on the final categorised climb. Alaphilippe and Maestri have 1:47 on the second group on the road.
It's looking really really good for the duo.
32 km to go: Alaphilippe looks fantastic.
Maestri and the Frenchman are onto the next climb now and continuing to fly. Credit to RCS, this stage has been fantastic so far and the course is superb.
28 km to go: Heads are starting to drop in the third group on the road. They know it's all over for them and won't be there day.
Meanwhile looks like Matteo Trentin is weighing up going for one final hit out to make it across to Alaphilippe and Maestri.
24 km to go: It looks like there's a bit more organisation behind.
Alaphilippe and Maestri's advantage has dropped to a minute now. This has been crazy.
That final climb, even though its not categorised, will be decisive.
The gradients touch 20% on the final climb. It's going to take a huge effort from these two leaders to hold off riders like Narváez once the climb starts to bite.
The Ecuadorian won the first stage of this year's Giro and held the wheel of Tadej Pogačar superbly on the climbs around Turin.
21 km to go: Just under a minute now for Alaphilippe and Maestri.
Valgren, Trentin, Clarke.... there's A LOT of firepower behind them.
The chasers seem to have figured it out a bit behind the leaders.
They're working nicely in tandem now as they look to bring the leaders back.
Alaphilippe and Maestri have pushed their lead back out to over a minute but its chopping and changing constantly here.
17 km to go: Bahrain are still putting the hammer down in the peloton. They've forced a small split in the peloton as the race ramps up. The wind is playing a massive part here.
Looks like Bora-Hansgrohe are caught in that split! This could be serious for Dani Martinez whose second on GC.
15 km to go: The leaders advantage is coming down rapidly now. 46 seconds as things stand but the final climb is approaching.
Valgren is looking very very fresh in the second group.
Alaphilippe is doing all his usual tricks as the final hill approaches. Shaking the legs, tightening his shoes, he's clearly getting ready to light it up when the climb begins.
Adam Blythe, Rob Hatch and Sean Kelly on the commentary reckon all he or Maestri will need is 20 seconds considering the twisty run in.
Looks like its panic over in the peloton as the splits been closed.
That means its all over for Jan Hirt in terms of moving up on GC. He'll have Bahrain Victorious to thank for that.
12km to go: 43 seconds for Alaphilippe and Maestri. They're about to turn sharply left before approaching the base of the climb.
They're about to start the climb.
Alaphilippe has gone instantly! MAestri can't keep hold of him.
10 km to go: Valgren has accelerated out of the chasers. Scaroni and Narvaez are with him.
Valgren is still driving that move. A few of the other riders look cooked.
Alaphilippe is solo and it won't be long before Valgren and co sweep up Maestri.
Another dig from Valgren has got rid of Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech)
Alaphilippe is onto the brutl brutal 20% part towards the top. That was horrible.
9km to go: Alaphilippe has 40 seconds and is on the descent now to the final section of road.
Valgren, Hermans and Narváez are still hot in pursuit.
7 km to go: These roads are absolutely horrible. Narrow, lumpy and fast! Alaphilippe has 36 seconds on Hermans and Narváez.
Valgren and Scaroni are behind them.
Here's Alaphilippe on the final climb. It was STEEP.
Alaphilippe now solo on the climb to Monte Giove, "pedalling squares" as they say in Italian but he's cleared the climb pic.twitter.com/RfQTm41vMmMay 16, 2024
4.8 km to go: Alaphilippe is exploding out of the corners now on this windy run in.
This has been cycling at it's best and one hell of a victory for Julian Alaphilippe if he does it.
1.8 km to go: This is in the bag now for Alaphilippe.
What a day.
This will feel really sweet for him.
It's in the bag! Alaphilippe wins!
We'll have the usual full report for you on the site shortly
Narváez took second with Quinten Hermans (Alpecin Deceuninck) grabbing third.
Read our full stage report on Alaphilippe's incredible win here.
