Twenty-four hours after Alberto Dainese's success in the sprint, Italian cycling appreciated the performance, without being proud.

Its first two riders in the general classification, Domenico Pozzovivo (39 years old) and Vincenzo Nibali (37 years old), throw their last fires and the other headliners (Filippo Ganna, Damiano Caruso) favor the Tour de France this year.

At 24, Oldani, who headed to Belgium for his WorldTour career (Lotto then Alpecin), ensured a second success for the team of Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel who was closely watched in this 204 kilometer stage. , the longest of the Giro.

Member of a river breakaway of 25 riders formed after a first hour led at a beating pace, Italy reacted to the attack of his compatriot Lorenzo Rota approaching the last 50 kilometers.

He found himself at the front with Rota, "a good friend" said the Milanese then, and the young Dutchman Gijs Leemreize, winner last year of one of the most coveted races in the hopes category (Ronde of Isard).

Italian Stefano Oldani winner of the 12th stage of the Giro, May 19, 2022 in Genoa Luca Bettini AFP

Only common point of the trio, the absence of professional victory.

The series ended for Oldani who mastered the sprint in the wide arteries of Genoa, after crossing the Ponto San Giorgio, which replaces the partly collapsed Polcevera motorway viaduct in August 2018. The accident had caused the death of 43 people.

The Naples experience

Taught by the experience of the Naples stage last Saturday, when van der Poel had paid for his isolation, the Alpecin team placed three riders in the breakaway of 25 units, with two teammates for + VDP +.

"We were the only team to have three riders, we knew we were increasing our chances," said the winner of the day, as comfortable on the bike as in an interview afterwards.

The breakaway allowed Wilco Kelderman to claw back more than eight minutes as the peloton controlled by the pink jersey team, Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez, coasted across the line, more than 9 minutes behind the top three .

The Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez still pink jersey of the Giro at the arrival of the 12th stage, May 19, 2022 in Genoa Luca Bettini AFP

"I was aiming for the stage, not the rise in the general classification", commented the Dutchman, third in the Giro 2020 and now less than 3 minutes from Lopez.

Delayed last Sunday at the Blockhaus, Kelderman affirmed that the two leaders of his Bora team, the German Emanuel Buchmann and the Australian Jai Hindley, ahead of him in the hierarchy after 12 stages, had priority.

During the stage, the Giro took the descent of Passo del Bocco, for the first time since the fatal fall of Wouter Weylandt in 2011. The Belgian rider's bib number 108 has since been removed from the list of competitors.

Friday, the 13th stage connects Sanremo, on the coast of the Ligurian Sea, to Cuneo, at the foot of the Piedmontese Alps.

The 150 kilometer route passes through a pass (colle di Nava) in the first half before a rolling final until the finish judged on a slight uphill false flat.

Backpackers and sprinters, both categories have their chances.

© 2022 AFP