Mixed bag for Orica-Scott on Giro’s 12th stage

It was another bad day at the office for Australian sprinting sensation Caleb Ewan. The 22-year-old once again collided with another rider, which he also did on stage 2.

This time the mishap bent Ewan’s brake pad into his front wheel, thus eliminating any chance he had to contend with eventual stage 12 winner Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors), who recorded a hat-trick with his third win of the 100th Giro d’Italia.

“Everything was going well, and Caleb was looking strong, until the final kilometre,” said Orica-Scott sports director Matt White. “The boys had contributed to controlling the break all day and put in some fantastic work in the closing kilometres in support of the sprint.

“Unfortunately Caleb has hit another rider and has bent his brake pad. When the mechanics received the bike after the race, the wheel wouldn’t spin a full rotation. Unfortunately it’s impossible to compete in the sprint with that type of issue.”

While Ewan was forced to settle for 82nd on the day (6 seconds back on Gaviria), Orica’s pre-race general classification contender Adam Yates (GBR) continued to show his sharp form, finishing 17th in the sprint, ahead of a split, to take six-seconds on his GC rivals.

Yates spent the majority of the first week in the top 3 overall just 10-seconds down to then-leader Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) before a freak incident involving a parked motorbike brought down both Yates and Geraint Thomas — and any real hopes either had to claim the maglia rosa.

“But, we have once again seen that Adam is in good form and is positioning himself particularly well in the finals,” said White. “It’s easy for races to split in this scenario and it’s great to see Adam on the right side of that. We’ll take six seconds any day — bit-by-bit we are chipping away.

“Our goals haven’t changed.”

1. Fernando Gaviria, COL, Quick-Step Floors, 5:18:55

2. Jakub Mareczko, ITA, Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia, s.t.

3. Sam Bennett, IRL, Bora-Hansgrohe, s.t.

1 (1). Tom Dumoulin, NED, Sunweb, 52:41:08

2 (2). Nairo Quintana, COL, Movistar, +2:23

3 (3). Bauke Mollema, NED, Trek-Segafredo, +2:38

90 (90). Adam Hansen, AUS, Lotto Soudal, +1:13:31

122 (121). Michael Hepburn, AUS, Orica-Scott, +1:35:17

155 (152). Rory Sutherland, AUS, Movistar, +1:51:24

164 (164). Alex Edmondson, AUS, Orica-Scott, +1:55:14

170 (172). Caleb Ewan, AUS, Orica-Scott, +2:02:07

DNF — Rohan Dennis, AUS, BMC Racing (Stage 4)

DNF — Nathan Haas, AUS, Dimension Data (Stage 11)

For full results click here.