Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) claimed stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia today, emerging victorious in a hard-fought sprint finale in Viadana, after benefitting from an excellent lead-out from his teammate Wout van Aert during the final kilometer.
Van Aert led his team under the flamme rouge, taking Kooij in his slipstream into the final corner before a last surge, giving the Dutch rider enough of an impetus to overtake compatriot Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL) during the final sprint.
Meanwhile, Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) maintained his grip on the pink jersey after finishing safely in the bunch, extending his GC lead with a sprint for 2 bonus seconds at the Red Bull kilometer in Brescello.
The Mexican rider now heads into stage 13 with a 33-second lead over teammate Juan Ayuso in the overall race, while Antonio Tiberi remains in third.
Earlier, Giosuè Epis (Arkéa – B&B Hotels), Andrea Pietrobon (Polti VisitMalta) and Manuele Tarozzi marked the day’s first breakaway effort, with the trio later building up a modest advantage as they passed through Maranello.
With 30km remaining, Pietrobon was the last of the escapees still out front, grabbing the final six second bonus points at the Red Bull kilometer in Brescello.
However, Pietrobon was eventually reeled in as the peloton entered the final circuit in Viadana.
From there. tricky roads saw the lead of the peloton change hands several times, with teams jockeying for position through the final corners before the finish.
As Visma made its way into the final left-hand corner, Van Aert took over, leading Kooij through the bunch into perfect position to latch onto Van Uden’s wheel, who had opened up his sprint too early to hold off his fellow Dutch rival.
