The 2025 Giro d’Italia continued with a day out for the sprinters after several intriguing stages in the battle for the general classification.
A three-man breakaway was reeled in as the riders headed onto the closing circuit in the city centre of Viadana, teeing up the expected bunch sprint on stage 12.
And it was Olav Kooij of Visma-Lease a Bike who won a thrilling, closely contested five-way battle.
Stage four winner Casper van Uden launched early but his compatriot switched effortlessly from the phenomenal leadout of teammate Wout van Aert onto van Uden’s wheel, before rounding him with ease closer to the line.
Mads Pedersen still leads the points classification by a huge margin but could not add to his three stage wins, finishing fourth, while Ben Turner of Ineos Grenadiers sprinted impressively for third, behind van Uden.
Follow all the action with The Independent’s live blog below:
Giro d'Italia stage 12 LIVE
- Giro continues with stage 12, a 172km sprint stage from Modena to Viadana
- Isaac del Toro added to his advantage in the GC with bonus seconds on stage 11
- Stage 11 was won by Richard Carapaz with an audacious late attack
- Primoz Roglic remains fifth, more than a minute off the lead
- Olav Kooij wins stage 12
Olav Kooij wins stage 12
17:22 , Flo CliffordAnd del Toro adds to his lead in pink.
Changes on GC?
17:10 , Flo CliffordWe knew del Toro had gained two seconds on the rest of the GC but strangely enough there’s been some movement further down, although we didn’t see any splits in the bunch approaching the 3km mark. Maybe some of the riders were off the back just before then, and couldn’t get back on in time?
Richard Carapaz is the main mover, up to fourth and shaving 45 seconds off his deficit, while Derek Gee has moved up impressively too. Adam Yates and Thymen Arensman have both dropped out of the top 10, but don’t seem to have lost any time.
1) Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in 38:47:01
2) Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +33”
3) Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +1’09”
4) Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +1’09”
5) Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1’11”
6) Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +1’26”
7) Derek Gee (Israel Premier-Tech) +1’56”
8) Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +2’11”
9) Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2’18”
Sprint finish
17:03 , Flo CliffordThese photos show just how closely contested this sprint actually was, but Olav Kooij was always going to be one of the favourites and he underlined the fact that on paper, he is the fastest man today.
Stage 12
16:57 , Flo CliffordHuge sprint by Casper van Uden, who went from so far back, essentially led out his compatriot Kooij - bit of an error there! - and still held on for second.
Ben Turner was tucked in behind him until essentially the very last moment, delivered expertly by Josh Tarling into that finale.
Kaden Groves was up there too but faded at the end.
'Not a shame to be beaten by Kooij' - Casper van Uden
16:51 , Flo CliffordCasper van Uden doesn’t seem too disappointed by his second place. He’s certainly raising his profile this race.
He’s asked why he launched so early. “I just had the speed, I thought it was better to keep the speed and make it a long one than break again and do a second sprint.”
Too early? “Maybe, but Kooij is also really fast and a really good bike rider so it’s not a shame to be beaten by him.”
Happy with the result? “I think it’s good. We did a good job, I stayed calm and just launched, so I think we can be happy, that was the goal.”
'We're definitely not done yet' - Olav Kooij
16:45 , Flo CliffordLet’s hear from today’s stage winner, a very relieved Olav Kooij.
“It is [a relief], I was waiting for this one,” he says. “We grew into the race, also as a team, with Simon being in a good position, Wout taking a stage win. The other sprints didn’t go right, really happy that today we could do it.”
On his leadout, he says, “Only he [Wout] can do it, so to have him as support here is extraordinary. I really need to thank him and also the rest of the team, they did a fantastic job. You don’t want to be too far [back] in that last corner, that’s maybe why we had to go a bit earlier than we wanted but I could jump on the wheel of Casper and pass him.”
On the unexpected package of van Uden, he says, “There’s a lot of good competition, you need to beat them all and that’s what we did today. We try to race our best every day and aim for wins and good GC with Simon. We’re definitely not done yet.”
'Good leadout, I have to say' - Wout van Aert
16:39 , Flo CliffordClassy interview with Wout van Aert in the melee of the finish line.
“It’s really nice to see Olav finishing it off after a really good leadout, I have to say,” he says. “We used our horsepower and he has the kick, so, great. We took our responsibility, we went for it. If Edo [Edoardo Affini] takes the front you always know it’s going to be lined out and me and Olav had to finish it.”
Stage 12 results
16:33 , Flo Clifford1) Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) in 3:55:40
2) Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL)
3) Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers)
4) Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
5) Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
6) Milan Fretin (Cofidis)
7) Max Kanter (XDS Astana)
8) Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step)
9) Matevz Govekar (Bahrain-Victorious)
10) Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), all at same time
Olav Kooij wins stage 12
16:30 , Flo CliffordVan Uden came round the Visma pair but Kooij jumped straight into his slipstream from Van Aert’s leadout and rode perfectly, just slipping out in the final 10-15 metres or so.
Van Uden was second, another great sprint from him, and a reversal of the top two on stage four. Ben Turner was third from Ineos - a solid result. Pedersen fourth.
It’s a second Giro stage win in Kooij’s young career. He gets a big hug from Van Aert at the finish.
Olav Kooij wins stage 12
16:28 , Flo CliffordAfter a slightly disappointing opening week, this is turning into a brilliant Giro for Visma. Van Aert getting his maiden Giro stage win, delivering a fabulous leadout, Kooij sealing a sprint win, and Simon Yates climbing magnificently and up there on GC.
Olav Kooij wins stage 12!
16:26 , Flo CliffordAn utterly breathless sprint, huge leadout by Van Aert. Van Uden opened up his sprint early and ultimately four or five riders crossed almost in sync, Pedersen came on strong in the closing stages - but it’s Kooij who takes it!
500m to go
16:26 , Flo CliffordVan Aert is on the front under the flamme rouge but needs an incredible leadout to deliver Kooij. Pedersen is fifth or so, van Uden up there.
Flamme rouge
16:25 , Flo CliffordUnder the flamme rouge and Visma now lead - Pedersen has been pushed down. Alpecin and Decathlon are there - but there’s been a crash behind, a Polti VisitMalta rider is down and that’s caused some other riders to swerve.
Under the 3km mark
16:24 , Flo CliffordUnder the 3km mark and all riders will get the same time as the group they were in, should there be any incidents in the finale.
Lidl-Trek are still glued to the front. Daan Hoole leads. Van Aert is there for Kooij.
3km to go
16:23 , Flo CliffordMovistar are moving up for Orluis Aular; Israel PremierTech move up for Corbin Strong, who could become the first man from New Zealand to win a Giro d’Italia stage.
Picnic PostNL are there too for van Uden and Pedersen’s purple jersey is ever-present on the front. Lidl-Trek are holding their line.
6km to go
16:20 , Flo CliffordAll the names you’d expect are here: Van Aert, Kooij, Pedersen, Groves, Bennett, Zijlaard, van Uden. Visma have split a little - Kooij was caught out on stage six with Van Aert accelerating too far back in the final kilometre.
10km to go
16:17 , Flo CliffordExpect madness. Mads Pedersen is well positioned. Visma are on the front, as are Lidl-Trek and Q36.5 for Matteo Moschetti, who needs to stop sprinting irregularly and getting relegated.
We were at 55km/h a minute ago and the pace is ratcheting up further still.
Fight for position (15km to go)
16:12 , Flo CliffordThere’s essentially a revolving door now as each team presses up to the front and then rolls back down. A real bottleneck as the road twists right and then left, forcing the riders at the back of the bunch almost to a standstill.
Ethan Hayter is well positioned for Soudal Quick-Step at the moment, protecting French sprinter Paul Magnier. Wout van Aert is up there too. UAE are floating around - del Toro is right at the front, exposed, which feels an enormous error of judgement.
Scenery check
16:09 , Flo Clifford
Pietrobon caught (26km to go)
16:01 , Flo CliffordPietrobon’s valiant effort is brought to an end almost exactly as the riders head onto the final circuit of Viadana.
The bell rings, they’re onto the circuit, and the countdown to the sprint is on. There’s a sweeping corner onto the finishing straight which is going to cause serious problems for riders out of position come the finale.
Advantage del Toro
15:56 , Flo CliffordA fascinating sprint there. Red Bull had Nico Denz in place to fight for those points, trying to take them away from Del Toro. But the Mexican was clearly wise to the threats to his lead - and it must be an enormous confidence boost to know that other teams are marking you out and trying to deny you any more time. Impressive stuff.
Red Bull kilometre (33km to go)
15:49 , Flo CliffordPietrobon wants the Red Bull kilometre - we’re starting in his home region tomorrow and he fancies the blue number on his bib and a place on the front of the start line.
Ineos Grenadiers have Kim Heiduk, of all people, off the front chasing him down - but he’s too far off. Pietrobon takes six, Heiduk four, and Isaac del Toro wants more bonuses!
He nabs two on the line, outsprinting a Bahrain rider, and his lead is now 33 seconds over Ayuso. Del Toro’s lead is almost entirely made up of bonus seconds, in fact, 30 in total. The maglia rosa suits him!
Breakaway caught (36km to go)
15:46 , Flo CliffordTarozzi and Epis are caught as the peloton rolls remorselessly on. Pietrobon is the last survivor and he’s still a few bike-lengths ahead.
Interestingly, Ayuso and del Toro are moving up, brought to the front by Baroncini. Roglic is moving up in the bunch too. The Red Bull kilometre is just 2km away and there are bonus seconds up for grabs.
Breakaway in sight (43km to go)
15:38 , Flo CliffordA minute ago the gap was down to around 14 seconds and the breakaway were in sight, but it’s blown back out to 29 - too early for comfort to make the catch, perhaps.
Ayuso has been paced back onto the bunch by Filippo Baroncini.
Epis wins intermediate sprint (56km to go)
15:28 , Flo CliffordEpis and Pietrobon sprint it out for the second sprint of the day at Sant’Ilario d’Enza, Pietrobon going long, but Epis nicks the points on the line.
Back in the bunch Ayuso needs a bike change and it’s a hard chase to get back on with the speeds increasing on these long, flat roads, particularly as the riders are all scrambling to stay at the front and avoid any splits. Jayco-AlUla have come to the front now and the gap is down to 30 seconds.
Echelons! (65km to go)
15:15 , Flo CliffordMads Pedersen is caught out in a split in the peloton and has to chase back on - looks like he’s isolated without teammates there. He said at the start of the day that Lidl-Trek wouldn’t be controlling things today and he downplayed his sprint chances, but this is still unusual - has he been a bit too relaxed?
He’s back on now, along with a few other riders including Luke Plapp, by the looks of things.
At the start line
15:12 , Flo Clifford
Wout van Aert moving up (71km to go)
15:05 , Flo CliffordTarozzi takes the maximum points atop Borsea without much challenge. This breakaway is working well together, each taking their turn. Epis is doing a monster turn at the moment with Tarozzi looking a little tired after that climb.
In the bunch, Wout van Aert moves up for Visma-Lease a Bike. He’s getting into position early to be part of Olav Kooij’s lead-out train.
Crosswinds appropaching? (77km to go)
14:56 , Flo CliffordThere’s a bit of a battle for positioning in the bunch as the road narrows onto the climb, which Visma and Decathlon win. It stays narrow for the descent too and that’ll make it a real fight to be in the right place as they head onto the plains, where the cross-wind potential is. Steven Kruijswijk is on the front.
As for this climb, it ramps up to 12% in points but that’s the last sting in the legs before the stage totally flattens out.
Onto Borsea climb (80km to go)
14:48 , Flo CliffordMore than halfway through this stage and it’s as you were. The break have 1:50 as they get to the foot of the day’s second categorised climb, the cat-3 Borsea. It’s nearly 4km averaging 5.5%.
Decathlon, Visam and Alpecin are still well represented at the front of the bunch. All-pink Isaac del Toro is there too and Roglic is surrounded by a load of Red Bull teammates. All present and correct.
Onto the descent (90km to go)
14:38 , Flo CliffordThe escapees are onto a descent down into the valley before the start of the day’s second categorised climb. Tarozzi is having a hard time keeping in contact with his companions. The gap is holding steady at 1:38.
Simon Geschke on the TNT Sports in-race motorbike says the wind has picked up and we could be seeing splits in the peloton.
Pedersen nabs points too (98km to go)
14:27 , Flo CliffordPedersen was allowed to swing off the front of the peloton to pick up some more points too - looks like most of his points jersey rivals are giving up the ghost. He then gets a flat, but no harm done as he’s soon back in the bunch. The riders are tackling some more undulating terrain.
The gap is fluctuating; it was down to 1:30 but is now back out to 1:53.
Pietrobon wins intermediate sprint (110km to go)
14:08 , Jack RathbornThe tower of Felina brings an intermediate sprint, and Epic looks strong, but the twists and turns, on the wet surface.
Tarozzi relaxes and lets the duo fight it out: Epis stuck behind and looks to kick on beyond Pietrobon, but just runs out of track... Well held by Pietrobon to claim maximum points, with his teammate Tonelli topping the points classification.
The gap back to the peloton has been sliced too: +1:16. Notably Pedersen breaks off to capture the remaining points too.
Epis leads trio at front of race (117km to go)
13:56 , Jack RathbornThe roads are slick on the route to Viadana, and the peloton remains +2:06...
Epis, Pietrobon and Tarozzi out in front, winding down the hill, flaring out the knee as they navigate a series of tight corners.
Epis, in the rouge, leads this little battle between the trio, a win today for Team Picnic Postnl could lift them out of the relegation places.
Isaac Del Toro in pink
13:50 , Flo CliffordIsaac del Toro had a bit of a natter with Mads Pedersen at the start line. The Mexican extended his lead over teammate Ayuso to 31 seconds in yesterday’s uphill finish and will no doubt enjoy a chance to sit back and relax in the bunch today.
Tarozzi wins KOM (130km to go)
13:35 , Flo CliffordManuele Tarozzi takes Epis and Pietrobon over the KOM at Basio, in that order. None of these gents are threats to the overall KOM classification, still helmed by Lorenzo Fortunato in the blue jersey. The maglia azzurra comes to the fore in the peloton to nab the remaining one point.
There’s a spatter of rain on the camera, but it doesn’t look too bad at the moment. Hopefully the rain holds off at the finish - but it does look like clouds are looming in the distance.
Mechanical for Roglic (134km to go)
13:26 , Flo CliffordPrimoz Roglic has had a mechanical and needs a bike change. He just can’t catch a break - not that this is the sort of day for del Toro or Ayuso to attack.
2.8km to the top.
Climbing begins (139km to go)
13:16 , Flo CliffordThe riders are onto the first climb of the day, a 4.8km category-three ascent averaging 6%. The break have 2:17 on the bunch as it stands and we could see them brought back well before the finish if it continues like this.
Jimmy Janssens leads Alpecin and the peloton onto the climb.
The Giro graphics tell us that it’s 15 years to the day since Vincenzo Nibali’s first win at the corsa rosa, in Asolo.
Sprinters' teams controlling (145km to go)
13:05 , Flo CliffordAs expected, the likes of Visma-Lease a Bike, Alpecin-Deceuninck, and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale are controlling the pace and keeping the breakaway’s advantage to a little under three minutes.
Three-man breakaway (156km to go)
12:51 , Flo CliffordThe riders now head through Maranello, home of Ferrari, but at a much more sedate pace than the likes of Hamilton and Leclerc.
So, our breakaway, who now have three minutes and growing on the bunch. A rather fruitless day in the saddle awaits them, unfortunately. The three are Giosue Epis (Arkea - B&B Hotels), Andrea Pietrobon (Polti VisitMalta), and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizane).
How do the sprinters rate their chances?
12:44 , Flo CliffordInterestingly, Mads Pedersen downplayed his chances ahead of the stage. “I know I’m not the best sprinter, so why should we catch the breakaway?” he says on TNT Sports. “It’s completely up to the other teams [to control the stage]. You won’t see us pulling at all.” Double bluff perhaps?
Three riders up the road (165km to go)
12:37 , Flo CliffordWe pass the home of Luciano Pavarotti, outside Modena, where he was born and raised. It’s now a museum with a slightly disconcerting mural of him on the wall.
Three Italians escape: Giosue Epis, Andrea Pietrobon, and Manuele Tarozzi, but the sprinters’ teams form a wall on the front of the bunch and it looks like that’s that.
Flag drop
12:31 , Flo CliffordWilco Kelderman has also had a mechanical and he’s back in the bunch now. Quite the delay to the flag drop, but we’re underway now, and Polti-VisitMalta, VF Group Bardiani-CSF-Faizane, and Astana all fancy getting up the road. The sprinters’ teams are called into action to control this one and Visma close it down - they don’t want a big breakaway today.
Neutralised rollout
12:27 , Flo CliffordKaden Groves has a mechanical! Bad start at kilometre zero. The flag doesn’t drop and we’ll wait for him to get back on before the race officially starts.
How do the sprinters rate their chances?
12:25 , Flo CliffordSam Bennett has been pretty quiet so far this race but tells TNT Sports he’s been “[Coping] quite okay” with a difficult last few stages. “I felt as if I’ve got fitter as the race went on. I struggled a bit at the start, maybe a bit too fresh. Yesterday I could enjoy the Giro a bit more. Back to business today.”
Asked about how his Decathlon squad are approaching today’s stage, he says, “More about positioning and how we want to contribute to the race, and that final left-hander at 170-odd k, everything can go wrong in that corner so it’s all about getting that right.” He suggests you need to be as far forward as possible going into that corner to stand a chance of winning.
How do the sprinters rate their chances?
12:18 , Flo Clifford“Looking forward to another opportunity,” stage six winner Kaden Groves says ahead of the stage start. “It’s not been easy [the last few days] but I arrived at the Giro quite fresh and I think my legs are improving each day. Got a really good feeling.”
He also says he’s not targeting the ciclamino jersey and notes that he didn’t win any points on stage six as the race was neutralised. It’s “out of reach”, he suggests. Pedersen leads by 89 points over Alessandro Tonelli and 98 points over Olav Kooij in third.
Signing on
12:03 , Flo CliffordThe riders are in Modena ahead of the expected rollout at 1.15pm local time (12.15pm BST).
Quick reminder of today’s route and what to expect:
Giro d’Italia Stage 12 preview: Map, standings and route to Viadana
Tour de France unveils dramatic change to final stage of 2025 route
11:46 , Flo CliffordFor those who didn’t see this yesterday, the route for stage 21 of this year’s Tour de France was unveiled on Wednesday, and it’s quite the detour from the norm...
The traditional processional final stage of the Tour de France will be considerably tougher this year, with the race organisers introducing three climbs of Montmartre - meaning the battle for the yellow jersey could yet be decided on the last day of the race.
Typically stage 21 of the Tour is an affair for the sprinters, an unofficial sprinting world championships, with several passages of a finishing circuit in the centre of Paris and the finish line on the iconic Champs-Elysees.
But inspired by the brilliant reception of the Olympic Games last summer, which saw thousands of spectators cramming onto the streets of Montmartre to cheer on the riders, race organisers ASO have opted to include a circuit of Montmartre itself in the route plan for this year’s final stage.
Isaac del Toro retains pink jersey
11:39 , Flo CliffordThe Mexican lost a little bit of time to Richard Carapaz but gained six seconds on everyone else by winning the sprint for second place.
Richard Carapaz wins stage 11
11:32 , Flo Clifford
Giro d’Italia 2025 stage-by-stage guide: Route maps and profiles for all 21 days
11:25 , Flo CliffordWant to get ahead on the action after today? Lawrence Ostlere has put together a handy stage-by-stage guide to this year’s race:
Giro d’Italia 2025 stage-by-stage guide: Route maps and profiles for all 21 days
Carapaz 'unbelievably strong' - Pidcock
11:18 , Flo CliffordTom Pidcock was fourth on stage 12, another near-miss, but put in another good ride after getting spat out the back on the Alpe san Pellegrino.
He toldTNT Sports, “When we saw the race was in reach and Trek started to ride Mark [Donovan] also started to ride. I owe it to Mark and Damo [Damien Howson], they helped me back up after I got dropped on that long climb and we went for the stage. But Carapaz was unbelievably strong there. At the top we were pacing it but the way Carapaz went up that climb was pretty impressive.
“That was tough. It was one of those days where now you’ve got three non-GC days were everyone goes all-in, or sees the chance that it could be a full GC day even though most likely it would have been a breakaway day. But it was hard enough that it turned into a GC day.”
Internal politics at UAE
11:11 , Flo CliffordIt was interesting watching the response to Carapaz’s decisive attack again. Del Toro went immediately to close it down, but Ayuso sat back. Waiting for Roglic to respond maybe, putting the onus on him? Or was he spent?
Either way there were enough other GC riders to bring the bunch back together, minus Carapaz. Then at the finish line del Toro accelerated to take the bonus seconds, with Ayuso nowhere in sight, and the Mexican glanced over his shoulder as he crossed the line, almost as if looking for his teammate.
Is Ayuso biding his time for the tough, backloaded final week?
Who is leading the Giro d’Italia?
11:04 , Flo CliffordThe Giro d’Italia general classification standings shuffled again on stage 10 as race favourite Primoz Roglic, having slipped seven places to 10th overall on a frantic day on the sterrato in Tuscany, got his GC bid back on track and moved up to fifth.
The Slovenian clawed back time on a rain-hampered time trial from Lucca to Pisa, with his major rival Juan Ayuso now a little under a minute ahead of him.
Ayuso’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Isaac del Toro remains in the pink jersey after he took it on Sunday, having made history as the first Mexican to wear the Giro leader’s jersey and the youngest leader of the race this century.
Who is leading the Giro d’Italia? Maglia rosa and general classification standings
GC movers and shakers on stage 11
10:56 , Flo CliffordCarapaz went from 2’10” down on del Toro in ninth place to 1’56” and leapfrogged Brandon McNulty, Giulio Ciccone and Adam Yates for sixth place.
Everyone lost time to del Toro - six seconds for most of the top 10 - but Adam Yates was the worst hit, losing 27 seconds.
Carapaz on 'amazing' win
10:49 , Flo CliffordHere’s what Giro winner and now a four-time Giro stage winner Carapaz had to say.
“For me it’s really... I don’t know. It’s amazing for me, my team. Today I had the confidence, my team work everyday, and the victory is special for my team and my career. After three years in the Giro [when he lost the overall lead to Jai Hindley], I remember this. Now I have the legs. I take the opportunity for the next stage.
“Today is a hard day for everyone, for the GC riders it’s super hard. But for me in the last moment I felt I had the legs. I tried [to attack] one time and [it was enough].”
Asked about his goal of winning the Giro, he said, “The next week is super hard, a lot of mountains, but I think I have a good opportunity, me and my team, and objectives in the next week.”
What happened on stage 11?
10:42 , Flo CliffordA hugely aggressive, thrilling move by EF paid off as Richard Carapaz attacked with 8km to go on stage 12 and held off a slimmed-down field of GC favourites to win his first stage win at the Giro since 2019, when he won the overall.
Isaac del Toro extended his lead in the overall standings to 31 seconds over Juan Ayuso by winning the sprint for second and taking six bonus seconds, while Giulio Ciccone took four for third place, ahead of Tom Pidcock.
Stage 11 results
10:35 , Flo Clifford1) Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost), in 4:35:20
2) Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG)
3) Giulio Ciccone (Lidl - Trek)
4) Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)
5) Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers)
6) Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain - Victorious)
7) Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates - XRG)
8) Einer Rubio (Movistar)
9) Derek Gee (Israel - Premier Tech)
10) Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana Team), all +10”
Predictions for stage 12
10:28 , Flo CliffordTake your pick of the sprinters in this race, with the flat run-in making this almost guaranteed to be a sprint finish - unless somebody launches a late flyer. Could Taco van der Hoorn or another breakaway specialist look for revenge, after they were caught in the final 2.5km on stage six into Napoli?
Of the pure sprinters Kaden Groves and Casper van Uden have one stage apiece, while Mads Pedersen has three from the more punchy finishes and will likely be circling for more ciclamino points. Olav Kooij is winless in the race so far despite looking promising earlier in the race, but he’s largely been anonymous since his second place on stage four. Paul Magnier looks to be growing into this race and Maikel Zijlaard has had a couple of top-10s, but let’s go with Kaden Groves, who looked phenomenal on stage six and now has his confidence back after a first win of 2025.
Start time and how to watch
10:21 , Flo CliffordViewers in the UK can watch the action live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Stage 12 starts at 1.15pm local time (12.15pm BST) and is set to finish at 5.30pm local time (4.30pm BST).
Stage 12 route map and preview
10:14 , Flo Clifford
Stage 12 preview
10:07 , Flo CliffordThe sprinters get another run-out today after a few GC-heavy days in the 2025 Giro d’Italia and a couple of thrilling stages for the breakaway.
There’s 1700m of elevation gain on today’s 172km stage, but it’s a real stage of two halves, with all that climbing before the 100km to go mark. From there it’s almost entirely pan-flat, so expect any potential escapees to be caught and the sprint trains mass at the front to set up a drag race to the line.
Starting in Modena, the parcours tilts uphill almost straightaway, gently at first to the category three climb at Baiso, 40km in, before rolling terrain carries the riders to the intermediate sprint at Felina. That up and down continues until the second of two classified climbs, 96km in at Borsea, with the second intermediate sprint on the flat at Sant’Ilario d’Enza.
The sprinters may sweep up the bonus seconds and get a practice for the real thing in Viadana at the Red Bull kilometre in Brescello, 33km before the finish line. They then swing onto a 28.6km circuit of Viadana on mostly wide, straight, urban roads, and a wide, flat finishing straight with its final corner 500m from the line. Pure bunch sprint territory.
Good morning
10:00 , Flo CliffordHello and welcome to live coverage of Stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia!
Back onto the flat today for another outing for the fast men, after an intriguing few days in the ongoing GC battle.
