Stefano Oldani wins Stage 12 at Giro d'Italia as Wilco Kelderman, Lucas Hamilton claw back time in GC race

Alpecin-Fenix made their numbers matter on the longest stage of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday with what pundit Robbie McEwen described as “an elaborate decoy game” from the Belgian team. The presence of Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel and compatriot Oscar Reisebeek helped pave the way for a first professional win for Italy’s Stefano Oldani, who held off Lorenzo Rota (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Dutchman Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma) in a thrilling three-up sprint in Genova.

The trio kicked clear on the third and final climb of the day during the 203km stage from Parma before holding a chasing quartet at bay on the fast run to the finish. Dutch veteran Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) won the sprint for fourth at 57 seconds ahead of Colombia’s Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Dutchman Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Australia’s Lucas Hamilton (BikeExchange-Jayco).

Ad/> Van der Poel and Reisebeek were all smiles when they crossed the line almost eight minutes down alongside the remnants of the day’s 25-man break, over a minute ahead of a peloton that was brought home by the Trek teammates of the Spanish race leader Juan Pedro Lopez. Giro d'ItaliaGiro d’Italia team guide: Star riders, memorable moments, which Italian food are they?03/05/2022 AT 17:31 Lopez retained his 12-second lead over Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Portugal’s Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) on a day there was no change in the top 10 of the general classification.

But by placing himself in themselves in the day’s break, Kelderman and Hamilton both rose 10 places on GC to put themselves right in the shop window ahead of the next mountainous phase of the race. Kelderman is now 2:51 down and in 13th place after wiping out most