Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) won the 12th stage of the Giro d’Italia for his second win of this year’s race in wet and slippy conditions on Thursday.
Simon Yates of Mitchelton-Scott holds the overall leader’s pink jersey ahead of reigning champion Tom Dumoulin at 47sec, with Thibaut Pinot third at 1min 04sec.
“I guess these were favourable weather conditions for an Englishman. And also for an Irishman,” said Yates. “It was a very difficult final. I think a few guys underestimated it, myself included.”
Bennett, winner of the seventh stage last Friday at Praia Mare, broke away in the final 400 metres at the end of the 214km flat and twisty stage that finished on the Imola motor racing circuit.
Danny Van Poppel (LottoNl-Jumbo) and Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida) finished second and third respectively after being taken off guard by a late surge by Bennett.
“It was a tough final for a bunch sprint. There were two guys up front. I didn’t know how much energy they had left so I went early because I didn’t want to let the stage get away from me,” said Bennett.
“I just went for it. I didn’t know if I would hold the lead. I think it’s a nicer win than the first one.”
Giro d’Italia 2018 – stage 12 results (Osimo – Imola):
| 1 | Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) | 4:49:34 |
| 2 | Danny van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 3 | Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 4 | Baptiste Planckaert (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 5 | Jurgen Roelandts (BMC) | ,, |
| 6 | Michael Mørkøv (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 7 | Manuel Belletti (Androni-Sidermec-Bottecchia) | ,, |
| 8 | Clement Venturini (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 9 | Florian Senechal (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 10 | Enrico Battaglin (LottoNL-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 11 | Maurits Lammertink (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 12 | Jaco Venter (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 13 | Sacha Modolo (EF Education First-Drapac) | ,, |
| 14 | Jarlinson Pantano (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 15 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC) | ,, |
| 16 | Ryan Gibbons (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 17 | Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto Fix All) | ,, |
| 18 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 19 | Christoph Pfingsten (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 20 | Richard Carapaz (Movistar) | ,, |
General classification after stage 12:
| 1 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | 51:57:55 |
| 2 | Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) | +47” |
| 3 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +01’04” |
| 4 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) | +01’18” |
| 5 | Richard Carapaz (Movistar) | +01’56” |
| 6 | George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) | +02’09” |
| 7 | Rohan Dennis (BMC) | +02’36” |
| 8 | Pello Bilbao (Astana) | +02’54” |
| 9 | Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe) | +02’55” |
| 10 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | +03’10” |
| 11 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | +03’17” |
| 12 | Chris Froome (Team Sky) | +03’20” |
| 13 | Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data) | +03’25” |
| 14 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | +03’29” |
| 15 | Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb) | +03’40” |
| 16 | Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac) | +03’43” |
| 17 | Maximilian Schachmann (Quick-Step Floors) | +04’01” |
| 18 | Alexandre Geniez (AG2R La Mondiale) | +04’33” |
| 19 | Sergio Henao (Team Sky) | +05’08” |
| 20 | Jose Goncalves (Katusha-Alpecin) | +05’21” |
