The two biggest sprinters of the 2026 Giro d'Italia lost out on a potential stage 12 victory, with both maglia ciclamino leader Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) dropped by the fast pace set by Movistar on the final climbs into Novi Ligure.
Magnier questioned Movistar's tactics in a post-race interview with press in the mixed, saying they were "hard to understand".
"It's hard to understand the tactics of Movistar, to be honest. I think they have a fast guy, but I don't know if they did it for the show or to try to win the stage." Magnier said in the interview published on CyclingProNet.
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"In the end, they dropped their sprinter, but they didn't take the stage."
It was a highly-anticipated day for a sprint, and one of the few chances remaining for the sprinters in the peloton at this edition of the Giro. The 175km race travelled from Imperia to Novi Ligure, and was by no means flat, in what was somewhat of a reverse Milan-San Remo-style race.
Magnier and Milan showed signs of struggle on the first of two main climbs in the second half of the stage, Colle Giovo, after a blistering pace set by Movistar that was supporting Orluis Aular for a stage win.
The two sprinters ended up in a chase group, and while they reduced the gap to under a minute, the next climb over the Bric Berton came too quickly, and the gap exploded to more than seven minutes before the flatter sections into the finish line.
"I don't know how far we were, but I tried not to drop off too fast. On top of [Matteo] Sobrero gave me a big hand," Milan said in a post-race interview.
"We tried to collaborate with Magnier. We tried our best to come back. We did a fast distance, and we arrived 50 seconds from the group and then we couldn't close it. We knew the last climb would be hard. I gave my best, but it wasn't enough."
Magnier agreed with Milan's assessment of the race situation over the climbs, saying, "In the last climb I never recovered, and I was really on the limit, so I tried to go on the downhill, but it was too late."
Distanced from the main field, Magnier also worried about the possibility of losing the maglia ciclimino to Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who won three stages and started the day just 19 points behind Magnier in the special classification.
Narváez finished eighth in the sprint and moved closer in the standings, but Magnier still leads by a slim 11 points.
"I was surprised to keep the jersey at the finish line," Magnier said. "I'm happy to keep the jersey, even though I am disappointed to not make it today. The next chance is Milan, and it is really flat and will suit me much more."
The next chance for the sprinters will be stage 15 into Milan, and then the final ceremonial stage 21 in Rome.
Milan is a four-time stage winner at the Giro d'Italia and is aiming to add a fifth, but with few chances left, he has faced questions about his performance during the first two weeks.
"I don't think things are going wrong; the sprints have been a bit chaotic," he said.
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