Alaphilippe proves doubters wrong with sensational Stage 12 win in Giro

Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) proved his doubters – including his own manager – wrong and did so in swashbuckling style by soloing to Stage 12 glory in Fano after a breakaway of over 125km went the distance in the lumpy Le Marche region of central Italy.

Frenchman Alaphilippe combined superbly with fellow escapee Mirco Maestri (Polti-Kometa) to keep a strong chase group at bay before blasting clear on the double-digit ramps of Monte Giove with 10km to go of a spellbinding stage.

Showing that form is fleeting but panache is permanent, Alaphilippe put his recent troubles behind to leave his mark in his maiden Giro and complete his collection of victories in all three of cycling’s Grand Tours.

Alaphilippe’s victory was a popular result with the rider who came second – the Ecuador champion Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) – the first to congratulate his colleague after a sensational win that saw the 31-year-old former double world champion roll back the years.

Stage 1 winner Narvaez was part of a strong nine-man chase group that broke up on the final climb in a bid to catch the lone leader. Despite combining with Belgium’s Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Narvaez was unable to reduce the arrears and double his stage tally at this year’s race, the in-form Ecuadorian crossing the line 31 seconds down just ahead of Hermans.

Denmark’s Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost) pipped Italy’s Christian Scaroni (Astana- Qazaqstan) to complete the top five before Italian veteran Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling) led home the remainder of the chase group, including that man Maestri, who had gone clear with Alaphilippe with 138km to go of a lumpy 193km stage that resulted in what Eurosport expert Robbie McEwen described as “a ride for the ages”.

Race leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) survived another day in pink as the main field came home over five minutes in arrears. The Slovenian leads Colombia’s Dani Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) by 2:40 with Britain’s Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) a further 16 seconds back in third ahead of Friday’s sprinter-suited Stage 13.