Giro d’Italia 2026 Stage 12 recap: Alec Segaert wins after bold late move while team-mate Afonso Eulalio extends pink jersey lead

A fantastic day for Bahrain Victorious saw Alec Segaert soar to a surprise win in Stage 12 at Novi Ligure after race leader Afonso Eulalio extended his grip on the pink jersey by six seconds over his rivals after sprinting clear at the Red Bull KM.

If Portuguese climber Eulalio now leads Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard by 33 seconds after thriving on his eighth day in the fabled maglia rosa, all eyes at the finish were on his Belgian team-mate Segaert, who launched emphatically with 3km remaining to steal a march over everyone else in the reduced peloton.

The Movistar team of Venezuelan fast finisher Orluis Aular had destroyed the hopes of the day’s second six-man breakaway on the first of two climbs at the business end of the 176km stage along the Ligurian coast and into Piedmont.

With sprinters Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets), Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Tobias Lund (Decathlon-CMA CGM) all distanced on the climb, Movistar went all in on the second ascent to open a gap of over a minute on a small chase group that included the double stage winner Magnier and Milan.

The EF Education-EasyPost and NSN Cycling teams of sprinters Madis Mihkels and Ethan Vernon joined Movistar on the rolling plateau and subsequent descent to ensure that there would be no return for the peloton’s fastest finishers.

An untimely puncture for Britain’s Ben Turner (Netcompany INEOS) inside the final 20km all but ended the 26-year-old’s chances of contesting the sprint, Turner eventually finishing over three minutes in arrears despite a brave battle to rejoin the leaders.

Pushing for a fourth win that would see him prise the maglia ciclamino from Magnier’s shoulders, Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was present in the reduced peloton, along with the Stage 2 winner from Uruguay, Thomas Silva (XDS Astana), and Messrs Aular, Mihkels and Vernon.

But after Eulalio caught his GC rivals napping at the Red Bull KM sprint, it was climbers Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Igor Arrieta (UAE), the winner of Stage 5, who put in an opportunistic dig on a small rise into a hilltop town inside the final seven kilometres.

No sooner had this move been snuffed out and the Visma-Lease a Bike team of Vingegaard came to the front on the approach to Novi Ligure than Segaert put in his decisive move, surging from deep around a sweeping corner before throwing down the hammer to open up a huge gap.

Movistar’s Lorenzo Milesi eventually attempted to bridge over before Uno-X finally led the chase. But it was too little, too late – and Giro debutant Segaert held on for the fourth and biggest win of his career, to make up for his disappointing 16th place in Tuesday’s individual time trial.

Fellow Belgian Toon Aerts (Lotto-Intermarche) won the sprint for second place ahead of former race leader Silva and Vernon, with veteran Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) completing the top five. Ecuador’s Narvaez took eighth place to come within 11 points of Frenchman Magnier in the maglia ciclamino standings.

The sprinters may get the chance to contest another finish on Friday’s 189km Stage 13 from Alessandria to Verbania, although two short but sharp climbs in the closing 20km could well close the curtains on the likes of Milan and Magnier for a second day running.

That dash for bonus seconds at the Red Bull KM sprint saw the pink jersey extend his lead by six seconds on everyone except Ben O'Connor, who was the only GC rider to respond. No changes, however, in the order of the top 10.

1. Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain-Victorious)
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +0:33
3. Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS) +2:03
4. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) +2:30
5. Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla) +2:50
6. Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +3:12
7. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) +3:34
8. Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) +3:40
9. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +3:42
10. Chris Harper (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) +4:15

”It’s super amazing. It’s my first Giro d’Italia. I raced a lot when I was younger to race in the youth categories in Italy and I wore the maglia rosa in the Giro Next Gen – but then to do it here on the bigger stage… well, this Giro was already amazing for the team with Afonso Eulalio’s pink jersey.

”I had it in mind to attack at that moment. I was happy with how the race was going on the climbs and I saw that the team-mates of the sprinters who were left had made such a big effort, so I knew I wanted to go hard when they were all on the limit. For this result, you want to give everything.

”Winning is the best thing there is – and after a bit of disappointment in the TT, this is the best way to put things right.”

So, triple stage winner Narvaez cannot add a fourth to his haul, neither can he take the maglia ciclamino from Paul Magnier’s shoulders – although he will move a little closer to the Frenchman after taking eighth in the sprint.

1. Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious)
2. Toon Aerts (Lotto Intermarche) +03
3. Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) ”
4. Ethan Vernon (NSN Cycling Team) ”
5. Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) ”
6. Orluis Aular (Movistar) ”
7. Madis Mihkels (EF Education-EasyPost) ”
8. Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) ”
9. Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) ”
10. Sakarias Loland (Uno-X Mobility) ”

Toon Aerts of Lotto Intermarche leads the chasing pack over the line for second place – but it’s all about Alec Segaert today after he took a maiden Grand Tour stage win in his debut Giro.

Victory for Belgium’s Alec Segaert of Bahrain Victorious! The 23-year-old’s bold move pays off for the team of the race leader, who himself extended his lead by six seconds… What a day for them.

Lorenzo Milesi of Movistar put in an attack in a late bid to catch Segaert, with Tudor Pro Cycling and then Uno-X leading the chase. Can the Belgian lone leader hold on as he goes under the kite…?

The Belgian goes for a trademark long-pop – and the Bahrain Victorious rider is off to a flyer! Segaert opens up a gap, and that could be that. There’s no reaction from the Visma-led peloton and I think that’s the win done and dusted. How things can change in a flash…

The Netcompany rider is struggling to hold on following that acceleration… terribly bad luck for Turner, who will surely be too pooped to contest the sprint.

Markel Beloki was the EF rider who helped drag the strung-out pack back onto the wheel of Arrieta and Ciccone, so it’s back together again ahead of the final push to the finish.

Perhaps that explains Visma’s tactics… Giulio Ciccone has kicked clear on an uphill rise into the town of Pasturana, and that coaxes a reply from Igor Arrieta of UAE. The duo open a gap, with EF and Visma leading the chase behind.

Earlier in this race, Visma-Lease a Bike kept out of these sprints in a bid to protect their leader Jonas Vingegaard. But today they are helping to drive the pace – perhaps worried that their man in blue might find himself on the wrong side of a split before the safe zone.

With Ben Turner finally joining the back of the peloton, the Briton still has it all to do because Valgren has stretched the pack out into one long line. The chasers have thrown in the towel and are now three minutes behind.

The pink jersey puts in an opportunistic dig to take the Red Bull KM bonus sprint seconds. Ben O’Connor reacts to take second place, but Jonas Vingegaard doesn’t appear bothered. That will see the Portuguese climber extending his lead over the Dane to 33 seconds today.

If the triple stage winner finishes in the top three today he will take over Paul Magnier’s purple jersey today.

The Briton has a Netcompany INEOS team-mate with him – the Australian veteran Jack Haig – but he’s going to be severely hampered in the final sprint after this sustained effort following his pucture.

It looks like they’re resigned to missing out today. Their group still trails the pack by 1’25” and unless something drastic happens, it’s curtains for their hopes of contesting the sprint in Novi Ligure, where Fausto Coppi moved when he was 13 to work in a butcher’s shop.

Terrible luck for the Briton, who needs a new back wheel or bike after getting a flat. He’ll have to fight back onto the leading group in the knowledge that the other sprinters are chasing him down behind. Turner deserves a pop in Novi Ligure when you consider how his team forced him back to help Egan Bernal in that stage to Potenza, when Movistar last tore things up on a climb before the finish. Turner finished third that day but could have beaten Narvaez had he been fresher.

If it was all Movistar on the way up, it’s now all NSN and EF on the flat approach to Novi Ligure. That’s because their sprinters Vernon and Mikhels are probably faster than Aular on a flat sprint and they want to keep that gap for those chasing sprinters, Magnier and Milan.

And it’s advantage to the peloton, who still have 1’07” on the chasing sprinters.

So, who’s here who can win? Orluis Aular of Movistar, Madis Mihkels of EF, Ethan Vernon of NSN, Ben Turner of Netcompany, Jhonatan Narvaez of UAE… The rider who wins today will be one of those five riders, surely.