Giro d'Italia 2022 - Stage 12 preview

By published

May 19, 2022 - Parma to Genoa, 204km

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Stage 12 Giro d'Italia 2022 profile
Stage 12 Giro d'Italia 2022 profile(Image credit: RCS Sport)

Stage: Parma to Genoa

Distance: 204km 

Race times: 11:50-17:15 (CEST)

Stage type: Hilly

Beginning in another gastronomic powerhouse, the peloton face the longest day of the Giro d'Italia on stage 12. Parma is known locally as ‘the little capital’ and is renowned for parmesan cheese and cured meats – google ‘parma’ and the first search result is its ham, rather than the city itself – but there’s a lot more to the place than food. 

The Emilia-Romagna region says goodbye to the race as it heads out of Parma and towards Liguria. The first 89.5km of the race is an agonisingly-long false flat with no respite. There’s an intermediate sprint after 55.9km, and the third-category Passo del Bocco provides the first chance for those contesting the KOM competition to score some points as they hit the high point of the day, in terms of altitude, at 957 metres.

From there, just over 20km of descent leads the riders to an intermediate sprint at Ferrada before they head towards the next two cat three tests, the ascents of La Colletta and Valico de Trensasco. The descent from here leads to around 16km of mostly flat terrain towards Genova, an important port city on the Ligurian Sea, famous for its eclectic architecture and for being the birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

The spirit of exploration may take hold among the riders, too. It’s another day for the breakaway artists, and a dozen stages deep into a Grand Tour the fight for a precious stage victory will intensify. 

Furthermore, with a clutch of KOM points on offer the fight to join the breakaway could in itself provide the highlight of the race.

Katy Madgwick

Katy Madgwick is a freelance writer and broadcaster, covering multiple disciplines across both men's and women's pro cycling. Head of Creators at Domestique Cycling, Katy has written for a broad range of publications, and is a regular contributor to Cyclist Magazine, Cyclingnews, TNT Sports and The Roadbook Cycling Almanack. 

On the broadcast side, she is a co-host of the On Yer Bike podcast, occasional contributor to BBC Radio, and features on CADE Media's Pro Show podcast for the first time in 2025.

She is a lover of all things French and a cyclo-cross obsessive, and probably ought to get on her actual bike more often.

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