Giro d'Italia: Sam Bennett wins stage 12 in Imola

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Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) claimed his second stage win of the 2018 Giro d'Italia, sprinting to victory on the Imola motor racing circuit at the end of a chaotic, rain-soaked final hour of racing. The Irishman produced a spectacular long-range effort as he tracked down late attackers Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) and Carlos Betancur (Movistar) in the final 400 metres, before ripping past them and away from the rest of the field.

Danny van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo) took second place, and Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida) third, but they were caught off-guard by Bennett and were forced to unfurl frustrated sprints as the 27-year-old sat up and celebrated.

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) finished safely in the peloton to retain his overall lead, with the other general classification contenders present and correct, despite a period of panic when the bunch split with 30km to go.

And it was at that moment that the balance of power swung in Bennett’s favour, as double stage winner Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) found himself caught out in the second peloton. The two groups did come back together ahead of the entry to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari with 15km to go, but Viviani was soon off the back again, on his own, and out of the picture as the race reached full tilt on the sodden track.

The race would finish on the circuit but first the riders had to head back out onto the roads to take on the category 4 climb of Tre Monti and the rapid run back down. That this would be no ordinary sprint was apparent when Bennett found himself on his own off the front on a flatter section of the climb. It was that sort of uncontrolled affair, with attacks coming and going, and Yates himself even forced to sprint to close a dangerous gap to Rohan Dennis (BMC) and Richard Carapaz (Movistar).

Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) led over the top, and was soon joined by Betancur, though the Italian was replaced by stage 10 winner Mohoric, a superior descender. Betancur and Mohoric took a handful of seconds onto the track for the final kilometre and were still out in front going into the final few hundred metres.

By this point the peloton was fragmented and lead-out trains a distant memory, and Bennett - liberated perhaps after finally breaking his Grand Tour duck on stage 7 - made something of a gamble in striking out so early. It quickly became clear he’d hit the jackpot as he surged clear of the unsuspecting pack in what was more a late attack than a traditional bunch sprint victory.

“The way it happened, that I had to go so early and I pulled it off - it’s a nice way to win. It gives me confidence,” said Bennett, who also closed the gap to Viviani in the points classification. “We still had two guys in front. I didn’t know how much energy they had left but I didn’t want another stage getting away from me, so I decided to go early. I didn’t know if I could hold it or not. I think I caught some guys by surprise, so it worked to my advantage.”

How it unfolded

After a few early skirmishes, a breakaway went, with a full house of Italian Pro Continental teams. Jacopo Mosca and Eugert Zhupa were there for Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia, Mirco Maestri and Manuel Senni for Bardiani CSF, and Marco Frapporti for Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec. Frapporti has been a constant feature of breakaways so far at this Giro d’Italia, and was already way ahead in the Premio Fuga standings - awarded to the rider with most kilometres spent in the break - before he set off for another 200km or so out front.

The quintet quickly opened up a lead of four minutes over the peloton, but despite the length of the stage and the largely pan-flat parcours, they were never allowed any more than that. With around 50km to go, the rain was coming down hard, with wheels spraying up the surface water and rain capes donned from pretty much everyone apart from the breakaway quintet. After a brief lull, the rain came back with just over 30km to go, and this time with a vengeance. Drenched to the bone, Lotto Fix All increased the pace in the peloton, and not only did the gap to the breakaway plummet, but the bunch itself began to split.

And there were some notable absentees from the first peloton of around 50 riders, including Viviani and Carapaz. That was cue for Bora-Hansgrohe to up the pace in a bid to keep Bennett’s rival Viviani out of the picture.

At the front of the race, Maestri and Mosca dropped the other three but wouldn’t last much longer as the dropped group scrambled to close a gap that had shot up to 30 seconds. The situation seemed to be rescued with 20km to go and it wasn’t long before a big group came back that Tim Wellens (Lotto Fix All) took a flyer and lead the race into the Imola circuit with a lead of 10 seconds. However, it soon transpired that Viviani hadn’t been able to salvage the situation, as the maglia ciclamino was seen on his own off the back, just ahead of the cars. With the race now at full tilt, the Italian would be playing no further part in the finale.

Back out on the open roads and the road kicked uphill for the late category 4 climb of Tre Monti, where Wellens began to fade and was duly caught by the EF-led peloton. The peloton strained once more when Sergio Henao (Team Sky) went clear with a Katusha rider. They didn’t get much of a gap but Yates had to sprint to close a gap when Carapaz ghosted up to the duo.

Bennett found himself on the front at one point but the peloton bunched back up before Ulissi rolled the dice and crested the climb with a handful of seconds. Betancur was on his way to bridging across, though, and the duo shifted into the big ring for the fast descent back down towards the race track. Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida), a master descender, then set off in pursuit and linked up with Betancur as Ulissi fell away.

The duo led the race back onto the F1 circuit in the final kilometre, but were made to look like they were soft-pedalling as Bennett roared through to take a special victory.

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