Giro d’Italia 2020 Stage 12 - As it happened

ByFelix Lowe

Updated 15/10/2020 at 16:08 GMT

Joao Almeida survived this severe test on his pink jersey credentials as Jhonatan Narvaez benefitted from a late Mark Padun mecanical to win the stage - a third in this year's Giro for Ineos Grenadiers.

Vincenzo Nibali, Jakob Fuglsang and Joao Almeida (in pink) during Stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia 2020

Image credit: Getty Images

The moment the race was won...

Ecuador and Ineos' Giro just gets better and better...

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Simon Clarke third

The Australian from EF Pro Cycling soft-pedals over the line 6'50" down on the stage winner. He's followed, 40 seconds later, by Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team) and then Simon Pellaud of Androni-Giocattoli. It looks like those are the only guys left from the break who have stayed out...

The "peloton" comes over at 8'25" as Joao Almeida ticks off another stage on a day Ecuador's love affair with the Giro further intensified in the rain of Emilia-Romagna.

Sodden stalemate behind

Deceuninck Quick-Step lead their man Joao Almeida towards the finish after a ceasefire in this 21-strong group of main favourites. It looked like it was all going to kick off after that early pacing by NTT, but in the end the horrendous weather put a dampener on things. Almeida survives another day. It looks like only Zakarin will lose time today - but let's wait until the dust settles.

Mark Padun in second

He came within nine seconds of the lone leader after almost battling back from that puncture 25km from the finish, but in the end the resigned Mark Padun of Bahrain-McLaren waves to the crowd as he crosses the line 1'07" down in second place.

Victory for Jhonatan Narvaez!

It's a victory parade for the 23-year-old Ecuadorian who picked up a maiden Giro stage win in his second appearance in the race. Narvaez unzips his rain cape to reveal his Ineos Grenadiers jersey as he crossed the line and points to the sky. He's the second Ecuadorian to win on this year's Giro.

2km to go: Life after Thomas for Ineos

It looked grim for Ineos after Welshman Geraint Thomas went home after that crash in the opening week - but they have added two more wins through Ganna and now Narzaez. That means that only six teams have tasted success so far on this Giro.

4km to go: 40 seconds now

The stars have not aligned for Padun and Bahrain-McLaren as the gap stretches out to 40 seconds. So, after Richard Carapaz's glory last year and Jonathan Caicedo earlier in this race, Ecuador's latest star is Jhonatan Narvaez, who will win Ineos Grenadier's third stage on this year's race.

8km to go: Narvaez back in control

The Ecuadorian rider is winning the tug of war as his lead creeps back to 15 seconds. The chaser is rocking all over the place, pushing too big a gear and going for broke. This one is all over.

10km to go: Just 10 seconds now

Padun continues to claw his way back - but at what cost? Perhaps Narvaez will have more left in the tank if/when it comes down to a sprint in Cesenatico?

Meanwhile, behind, Domenico Pozzovivo decides now it's time to drop back to his team car to pick up a rain jacket...

14km to go: TT to the end

The pendulum swings a little towards Padun on this long, flat stretch of road, where the Ukrainian powerhouse can get into his TT position and eat into Narvaez's advantage. The gap is down to 20 seconds.

18km to go: Narvaez going flat out

The Ecuadorian has 28 seconds on the unfortunate Padun, with Clarke now over three minutes back and the peloton at 6'30". But there is still a long way to go, and the rain continues to fall. A puncture for the lone leader would even things out so who knows...

24km to go: Puncture for Padun!

Oh no - heartbreak for Mark Padun! The Ukrainian needs a bike change and perhaps after all that a mechanical will decide today's stage... Narvaez rides on - but he still has 24km to go and that proves that anything can happen.

25km to go: Take your pick

One of these two will win today - Padun or Narvaez. Who do you fancy?

27km to go: Pozzovivo rolls the dice

O'Connor peels off and Pozzovivo puts in a few digs but he can't shift anyone. Things thin out but none of the main favourites are tailed off as they come over the summit. Too little, too late for NTT there - but the weather conditions have not helped.

30km to go: Narvaez takes KOM points

It's the Ineos rider who pips the Bahrain-McLaren rider for the 3pts over the top - not that their battle is anything other than for the stage spoils now. Clarke goes over for third but two minutes down. The Pellaud chase group is over four minutes back.

O'Connor continues to set tempo for Pozzovivo on the front of the main pack, but the Italian has not tried to pull the trigger yet. Almeida, in pink, is in third and still has teammates Masnada and Knox.

33km to go: Cat.4 Gorolo

We're onto the final climb now, which is 4.4km long at 6.3%. Will it finally kick off? The gap back to Clarke is 1'25" and back to the Pellaud chasers is 3'45" while the GC favourites are 7'00" down.

Two very different riders leading this sodden stage - the small and stout Narvaez, who had a kick on him and is a fast finisher, and the large, big-boned Padun, who is a powerhouse Diesel who probably can't sprint for butter. The Ukrainian will need to drop the Ecuadorian before the finish otherwise he'll surely be beaten to the line.

35km to go: Third win for Ineos?

Ineos Grenadiers have won two stages through Filippo Ganna and come agonisingly close through both Salvatore Puccio and Jonathan Castroviejo. Today they could get that hat-trick through Jhonatan Narvaez. He'll face stiff competition from Mark Padun, though, while the experienced Simon Clarke can't be discounted.

Clarke is 35 seconds back, with the six-man chase group 2'30" back now. With the main pack growing in numbers and now 6'30" back, we'll have a second battle behind for pink - although it may be that a ceasefire is called in these horrific conditions.

Oh, and Clarke's chances just got a little worse - the Australian needed to stop for a bike change. Ditto Pello Bilbao further back. It's chaos out there and they're all cold, wet and clearly in a world of pain.

39km to go: Carretero caught

After fighting tooth and nail to get in the break, Carretero is caught by the pack. Or is that Torres? Perhaps the Movistar rider who was caught a bit earlier was Carretero and not Torres, as I thought. It's hard to tell given these conditions and Movistar's black rain capes.

42km to go: Problem for Fuglsang

Jakob Fuglsang, who has no Astana teammates left with him, but Boaro up the road, needs to swap for a bike change. He doesn't panic and he does what he has to do. Pello Bilbao also must have dropped back to his Bahrain-McLaren car but he's back now. The Spaniard has Hermann Pernsteiner in this group, plus Padun up the road if need be.

45km to go: Pellaud and Hansen attack

It's all fairly chaotic out there in this hellish downpour. It's dark, dank and dreary for everyone on the road. The two leaders still have Clarke in pursuit, and then a six-man chase group behind: Bidard, Pellaud, Boaro, Rosskopf, Hansen and van Empel (back from his puncture). Theyr'e 50 seconds back from the leaders.

Pellaud and Hansen then ride clear on an uphill rise punctuating this descent. Behind, Benedetti is about to be caught by the main pack, who are still five minutes in arrears.

49km to go: 20 left in main pack

Pozzovivo has another NTT rider with him now on top of O'Connor. The pack of favourites has been whittled down to 20 riders as they complete this penultimate climb with a renewed deficit of five minutes on the two leaders, Narvaez and Padun. They have Pellaud in pursuit, the Swiss trying to bridge over ahead of the next summit in pursuit of his KOM full house.

52km to go: Passo delle Siepi

Clarke is joined by Narvaez and Padun on the front of the race as they start the penultimate climb, which is uncategorised but will really sting their legs in these testing conditions. Behind, Pozzovivo only has Ben O'Connor left after all that legwork by his NTT team - but he has managed to isolate practically all his rivals. Almeida, the maglia rosa, still has Knox and Honore.

55km to go: Clarke out ahead

Simon Clarke, who had fought back with van Empel, now rides clear on this wet descent after attacking while the Dutchman was receiving a new wheel. The Australian has a gap of around 15 seconds on the other escapees.

60km to go: Torres caught

Alberto Torres is the first of the escapees to be swept up by the main pack, who are 4'20" down on the leaders. It's raining heavily again - and poor Etienne van Empel, who had fought hard to ride back into contention, has picked up a puncture. He needs a wheel change - and it takes a stricken age for the Dutchman to get seen to and sent on his way by his Vini Zabu-KTM mechanic.

Richeze has also been caught by the pack.

63km to go: Pellaud... again!

For a fourth time, Simon Pellaud leads the break over the summit to take maximum points - another nine. He started the day with 9pts and now has 39pts in the maglia azzurra standings. It won't be enough to see him into blue today, but he could rise above Jonathan Caicedo into fifth place today after the fifth and final categorised climb.

65km to go: Narvaez attacks

With Carretero and van Empel rejoining the leaders to make it nine men clear on the front, the Ecuadorian from Ineos Grenadiers puts in a dig to shake things up. It's shadowed by the others before Padun puts in a pull. It's really kicking off on this climb! And there is still a long way to go of this stage...

68km to go: Main pack thinning out

It's really blowing up in the main peloton with this pace by NTT causing a lot of damage. Pozzovivo only has two men left - albeit with Campenaerts up the road - and the likes of Nibali and Fuglsang are really isolated. Joao Almeida, the race leader, has a few Quick-Step men still with him, including James Knox, but it's perfectly poised for fireworks here.

70km to go: Rain rain rain

It's started to rain heavily again - and it's got eerily dark. The leaders are caught by Bidard, Padun, Hansen and Narvaez. With Boaro trying to bridge over, Benedetti is tailed off. Six minutes back, NTT are motoring along. Surely Pozzovivo will make his move soon?

And that man Ilnur Zakarin, who fought back after being tailed off on an earlier descent, has again been dropped. The Russian is going to drop down the standings today.

72km to go: Cat.3 Madonna di Pugliano

The leaders are onto the toughest climb of the day which is 9.1km at 5.1%. The average gradient is a bit misleading because there's a flat step in the middle of the climb where the gradient is only 1.5% for 2km. But right now, the three leaders are onto the steep 15% section of the climb.

74km to go: Pellaud wins intermediate sprint

Benedetti bridges over to the leader as they enter Novifeltria ahead of the intermediate sprint, which Pellaud wins to pocket 12pts in the maglia ciclamino standings. It also puts the Swiss in the lead of the separate intermediate sprint classification, such is the regularity of his getting in the day's break.

Incidentally, Benedetti won stage 12 of last year's Giro... could history be about to repeat itself? He and Pellaud are joined by Rosskopf so we now have three out ahead.

77km to go: Under six minutes

NTT lead the pack over the summit with a deficit of 5'55" over the lone leader Pellaud, who is riding through the cobbled centre of a small town on the descent. He has Benedetti and Rosskopf in pursuit from the original 14-man break.

82km to go: Pellaud once again

The Swiss maestro zips clear of the break to take another 5pts over the summit of the climb for his maglia azzurra haul. Pellaud then keeps his attack going as he opens up a gap on his fellow escapees.

86km to go: Richeze battling back

Dropped on the last uphill drag, the Argentinian sprint pilot is doing his best to rejoin the leaders. It's Rosskopf all the way, the American keeping the tempo up on the front with Carretero in his wheel. The NTT-led pack is still seven minutes back. It's the Swiss Danilo Wyss who is putting in a shift on the front for Pozzovivo's team.

90km to go: Cat.3 Perticara

Peter Sagan, who ended his winless run two days ago, has been dropped by the main pack. Campenaerts and Torres have managed to rejoin the leaders as they start the next climb, which is 7.6km long at 5%. The gap dropped below seven minutes but has grown a little for the 12 leaders.

92km to go: Zakarin dropped

The orange jersey of Kosskopf may be on the front but the American's CCC teammate Ilnur Zakarin is having a shocker. The Russian, a notoriously timid descender, was tailed off by the main pack on that downhill, and he now faces a big fight to return to his fellow GC contenders. He was 12th at 2'27" this morning.

93km to go: Rosskopf attacks

The break is onto the climb of Montetiffi, which precedes the next categorised climb. There's a big acceleration from Joey Rosskopf and that has spelled the end for some of the escapees, including Torres, Campenaerts and Richeze, who are tailed off.

100km to go: Here comes the rain

This won't make the descents any easier or the climbs any more fun... The heavens open on the race with the Giro instantly shrouded in gloom. The break is back together as they approach the end of this long descent with a gap of 7'45" on the NTT-led pack.

Indeed. And yes.

105km to go: Split in the break

It's no surprise that the breakaway riders have now started to race - they will have heard of the tempo increase behind and those serious about winning the stage will be on red alert.

Hansen, Padun, Benedetti, Narvaez and Richeze have opened up a small gap on that uphill step punctuating the descent of this latest climb.

110km to go: Gap comes down

The gap has plunged down to 7'30" thanks to the pacing by NTT as they go over the top of the Barbotto climb, one of Pantani's favourite training slopes. Sunweb are near the front, too, for their man Wilco Kelderman, who is 34-seconds down in second place on GC.

Meanwhile, there's a rear puncture for the Stage 3 winner on Etna, the Ecuadorian Jonathan Caicedo of EF Pro Cycling. He needs a wheel change ahead of this descent, which is broken up with a slight rise half-way down.

114km to go: Pellaud doubles up

Simon Pellaud goes over the top in pole position again to pick up another 5pts in the maglia azzurra battle. Right at the back of this break, track specialist Albert Torres is weaving his way across the road in a bid to reduce the gradient. He wasn't built for this kind of terrain - but he almost takes out Victor Campenaerts there with his uphill slaloming as he cuts across the Belgian's wheel.

NTT continue the heavy tempo-setting behind as the gap comes down towards the nine-minute mark. Quite a few of the sprinters - including yesterday's winner, Arnaud Demare - have now been dropped.

With 12pts to his name today, Pellaud is now up to 6th in the KOM standings. The Swiss has 21pts now - still somewhat shy of Guerreiro's 84pts.

118km to go: Cat.3 Barbotto

We onto the second categorised climb - 4.5km at a steeper 8.1% average gradient. The gap has dropped under 11 minutes after NTT took things up behind. The gradient is worse near the top of this climb, where it ramps up to 17%. Wowsers.

120km to go: Pack 8km down

The peloton go over the summit of that climb with the break 10km up the road and about to start the next climb after completing the narrow, twisting and corrugated descent. NTT Pro Cycling have come to the front for their man Domenico Pozzovivo, the Italian veteran who is fourth on GC and in the form of his life. He's never worn the maglia rosa before... and this is his 14th Giro... could that all change soon?

128km to go: Pellaud takes KOM points

The Swiss breakaway specialist Simon Pellaud kicks clear of the break to take the maximum 3pts over the top. That puts him up to 13pts in the KOM standings, which is good enough for 15th place but still somewhat short of Ruben Guerreiro's 84-point leading tally.

Etienne van Empel edged ahead of the others to take second place and 2pts with Max Richeze in third. 13'25" now for the leaders ahead of the next climb.

130km to go: Ineos edge forward

It's still Deceuninck Quick-Step on the front of the pack but Ineos Grenadiers have come to the front for their Plan B GC man, Tao Geoghegan Hart. The British rider is 2'45" down in 14th place at the moment.

The gap is above 13 minutes now. It's quite canny for Quick-Step to let it grow out so much because it neutralised the presence of Manuele Boaro in the break. The veteran Italian is Jakob Fuglsang's right-hand man - but unless he's called back to help the Dane, he's not going to be acting as a relay for Fuglsang today. He's 2'20" down on GC after that puncture a couple of days ago.

Deceuninck Quick-Step leads the peloton during stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia 2020

Image credit: Getty Images

135km to go: Cat.4 Ciola

The break is onto the first of the five categorised climbs, the Cat.4 ascent to Ciola (6km at 6.4%). The gap of the 14 riders is pushing 13 minutes now.

140km to go: Interesting stat

Here's an interesting one courtesy of the life-savers at ProCyclingStats. Joao Almeida, Pello Bilbao and Simon Pellaud all share the same spread of results in this year's race - that's to say, there has only been a 23-place spread between their finishes since the opening stage.

Almeida's record is most impressive: he has always finished between 2nd and 25th. Bilbao's spread is between 8th and 31st, while Pellaud, bless him, is consistent but much slower: 94th to 117th.

144km to go: Carretero makes it 14

After his long pursuit, Hector Carretero had finally managed - thanks to a little helping hand - to bridge over to the leaders. His Movistar team will surely be slapped with a fine for that manoeuvre... The gap is now 12 minutes for the break, so it looks like one of them will win today - unless things explode behind, which they could well do.

147km to go: 13 from 13

Hector Carretero is doing his best to give Movistar the numerical advantage in a break that currently has 13 riders from 13 different teams. He's got his work cut out, though, and is happy to take that very sticky bidon from his Movistar sporting director - it's made even more obvious by the fact that the Spaniard then tosses the water bottle back through the window without taking even one meagre sip.

The gap is almost 11 minutes now for the break as the rain starts to fall again. The showers have been on and off today.

150km to go: Nine minutes!

It continues to grow for the break whose lead is well over nine minutes now, while poor Carretero continues to plough a lonely furrow at 1'35". Deceuninck Quick-Step are on the front of the peloton to marshall things for their man in pink, Joao Almeida, as they continue their way along these narrow, rolling roads of the Emilia-Romagna countyside.

158km to go: Five minutes

The gap continues to grow for these 13 riders - it's up to 5'30" now. Carretero continues to chase potatoes behind with a deficit of 1'45". I mentioned that retrospective feature on Pantani a bit earlier in the stage. If you don't have the time to sit down and read the thing then perhaps you can listen to it while the Giro rides over the roads he used to train on? The link is below...

165km to go: Four minutes

The break has gone over that summit now and has stretched the gap up to four minutes on the descent. Carretero is still right in no-man's-land at around two minutes. There's one more leg-stretching climb before the first of those five categorised climbs. We have two former Giro stage winners in the break in Cesare Benedetti and Max Richeze.

An uncanny likeness...

Early contender for tweet of the day from Daniel Friebe of ITV and Cycling Podcast as the race passes through Pantani country...

172km to go: Carretero in pursuit

The 13 leaders have a 2'30" gap mid-way up the first uncategorised climb. They have the lone Spaniard Hector Carretero (Movistar) trying to bridge over - he's 1'45" down. The road now edges a bit further uphill after a short downhill step.

The best placed rider of this breakaway in the general classification is the Ecuadorian, Narvaez, who is 43'44" down on Almeida. Only three other riders are within an hour of the Portuguese race leader - Bidard, Padun and Rosskopf.

178km to go: 13 go clear

We now have a baker's dozen with a growing gap on the pack - and it includes some of the riders in that initial move. Padun, Torres, Campenaerts, Richeze and van Empel are the riders from the first move who are included, joined by Francois Billard (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Simon Pellaud (Androni Giocattoli), Manuele Boaro (Astana), Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe), Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team), Simon Clarke (EF Pro Cycling), Jesper Hansen (Cofidis) and Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers).

182km to go: Gruppo compatto

Having spent the best part of two minutes typing out all their names and teams, I can now reveal that the 12-man move has been caught. So we're back to square one again ahead of the first of eight climbs...

185km to go: 12 out ahead

The leaders are Luca Chirico (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), Mark Padun (Bahrain-McLaren), Filippo Fiorelli (Bardiani-CSF), Kamil Gradek (CCC Team), Lachlan Morton (EF Pro Cycling), Jonathan Dibben (Lotto Soudal), Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal), Albert Torres (Movistar), Victor Campenaerts (NTT Pro Cycling), Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers), Maximilano Richeze (UAE-Team Emirates) and Etienne van Empel (Vini Zabu-KTM).

But the gap, I'm afraid, is less than one second per rider in the move...

Approaching Cesena, Pantani's birthtown

Today's stage goes over the hills and training roads of the late Marco Pantani, who was born in Cesena and died just down the coast in Rimini, where yesterday's stage finished. The Pirate was a popular figure in these parts and the peloton is now passing by the outskirts of Cesena, which is a little inland from Cesenatico. You can read a little bit more about Pantani's downfall in this retrospective piece I wrote below.

Re-Cycle: The tragic tale of Marco Pantani

Marco Pantani - Giro d'Italia 1998

Image credit: Getty Images

195km to go: All over for Holmes

That man Matty Holmes has been reeled in but there's a new move off the front now featuring 12 riders including his Lotto Soudal teammates Adam Hansen and Jonathan Dibben, the Britain who is currently last in the overall standings and wearing the notional maglia nera, or black jersey.

The Giro show must go on - but at what cost?

Ever since that raft of positive tests on the first rest day, Covid-19 has been the big talking point on this Giro. I wrote something about the current state of play, which you can read here...

Also, our Tour de France-winning pundit Bradley Wiggins has his views on the current situation, which you can hear in his latest podcast with Eurosport, below...

198km to go: Flat opening section

The riders tackle around 28km of flat roads as they zig-zag their way westward and towards the hills. Holmes still has a small gap on the pack but he'll be hoping to be bolstered by some reinforcements soon.

204km to go: Holmes attacks from the gun

As soon as the flag is waved, there's an attack from Matthew Holmes of Lotto Soudal. The British Grand Tour debutant had had a busy race so far - he was in the break on the opening weekend in Sicily, and also in the move the day compatriot Alex Dowsett took the spoils in Vieste, where he came third.

144 riders in the neutral zone

The peloton has rolled out of Cesenatico on the Adriatic coast and are about to get going with the official start. Today should be active from the outset. It's a fresh, slightly overcast morning with the temperature currently 14 degrees Celsius.

Big day for the man in pink

With the top six riders on GC all within 1'01" of the maglia rosa, Portugal's Joao Almeida is going to have a fierce battle on his hands to stay on top of the pack. He and his Deceuninck Quick-Step team have done extremely well so far to protect Almeida's lead in what is his Grand Tour debut, but today will be a massive test for the 22-year-old.

With a maximum 33 KOM points up for grabs, it's also a big day for Almeida's compatriot Ruben Guerreiro of EF Education First. The Stage 9 winner holds an 8pt lead over Giovanni Visconti in the maglia azzurra standings, with Ineos duo Filippo Ganna and Jonathan Castroviejo both lurking 39 points behind and looking to close the gap.

Cesenatico-Perticara-Cesenatico

Here's the profile for today's Stage 12. I only count eight climbs - not nine - but a couple of those climbs in the middle do seem to have a couple of peaks, so let's give the organisers the benefit of the doubt. We should see a bit of movement in the king of the mountains maglia azzurra battle as one of the many subplots today...

Ciao ragazzi!

Good morning and welcome to what should be a brutal Stage 12 on the Giro d'Italia. Today's constantly up-and-down 204km ride is a nod to the famous Italian sportive, the Nove Colli Gran Fondo. Nine interesting climbs pepper this route and will make for a real classics-style day. Think Liege-Bastogne-Liege but in Emilia Romagna and set against a backdrop of Marco Pantani nostalgia...

Stage 11 recap

A fourth stage win for Groupama-FDJ's Arnaud Démare saw the in-form Frenchman extend his lead at the top of the maglia ciclamino standings in Stage 11 to the beach resort of Rimini.

One day after Peter Sagan ended his long winless run, normal service resumed for the Slovakian, who had to settle for a fourth second place after 182km of largely uneventful racing along the Adriatic coast. Having closed the gap to 20 points, Sagan now trails Démare by 36 points in the two-horse race for the purple jersey.

Once again, Démare benefitted from a flawless leadout from his Groupama-FDJ train, the 29-year-old launching from the wheels of Italian teammate Jacopo Guarnieri on the home straight and never looking back.

Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) beat the Colombian Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck Quick-Step) for second place while the Italian Simone Consonni (Cofidis) and the German Rick Zabel (Israel Start-Up Nation) completed the top five.

The moment Demare made it four...

Flawless fourth win from the Frenchman yesterday.

'Nobody can get near him!' - Demare wins Stage 11

How to watch the Giro d'Italia live – TV & live streaming

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