How a dozen teams handed Alec Segaert a Giro d'Italia stage victory

How a dozen teams handed Alec Segaert a Giro d'Italia stage victory

Alec Segaert timed his move perfectly on the 175km stage to Novi Ligure, but the Bahrain Victorious rider's win owed as much to a chain of tactical errors behind him as to the attack itself.

By Tim Bonville-Ginn · · 5 min read

Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious) won stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia on 21 May, with a solo move in the closing kilometres of the 175km run from Imperia to Novi Ligure, holding off a reduced group that never organised a proper chase. Toon Aerts (Lotto-Intermarché) finished second at three seconds, with Thomas Silva (XDS Astana Team) third and Ethan Vernon (NSN Cycling Team), the rider with arguably the strongest claim to the sprint, fourth.

Had the remaining sprinter teams been switched on to the situation, Segaert could have been caught, but it stuck because multiple teams spent the day making decisions that cancelled each other out, and the two squads best placed to respond in the finale, NSN and Uno-X Mobility, waited for someone else to lead the chase until it was too late.

Results

Imperia - Novi Ligure • May 21 • 175km

Velora
PosRiderTeamTime
🥇
Alec Segaert
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS3:53:00
🥈
Toon Aerts
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:03
🥉
Guillermo Thomas Silva Coussan
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:03
4
Ethan Kane Vernon
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:03
5
Jasper Stuyven
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:03
6
Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:03
7
Madis Mihkels
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:03
8
Jhonatan Narvaez Prado
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+0:03
9
Edoardo Zambanini
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:03
10
Sakarias Koller Løland
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:03
11
David Gonzalez Lopez
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:03
12
Francesco Busatto
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+0:03
13
Oliver Naesen
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:03
14
Mick van Dijke
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:03
15
Andréa Mifsud
TEAM POLTI VISITMALTA+0:03
16
Koen Bouwman
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:03
17
Florian Stork
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:03
18
Rémy Rochas
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:03
19
Brieuc Rolland
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:03
20
Corbin John Strong
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:03
21
Christopher Harper
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:03
22
Giulio Ciccone
LIDL-TREK+0:03
23
Johannes Kulset
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:03
24
Embret Svestad-Bårdseng
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:03
25
Mark Jamie Donovan
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:03
26
Thymen Arensman
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:03
27
Jai Hindley
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:03
28
Jan Hirt
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:03
29
Felix Gall
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:03
30
Gregor Mühlberger
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:03
31
Davide Piganzoli
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:03
32
Jonas Vingegaard Hansen
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:03
33
Harold Martin Lopez Granizo
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:03
34
Sepp Kuss
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:03
35
Ben Alexander O'Connor
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:03
36
Alberto Bettiol
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:03
37
Alessandro Tonelli
TEAM POLTI VISITMALTA+0:03
38
Christian Scaroni
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:03
39
Andreas Leknessund
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:03
40
Damiano Caruso
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:03
41
Giulio Pellizzari
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:03
42
Markus Hoelgaard
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:03
43
Markel Beloki Fernandez
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:03
44
Derek Gee
LIDL-TREK+0:03
45
Egan Arley Bernal Gomez
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:03
46
Mathys Rondel
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:03
47
Afonso Eulálio
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:03
48
David de la Cruz Melgarejo
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:03
49
Ben Zwiehoff
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:03
50
Michael Storer
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:03
51
Alan Hatherly
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:03
52
Giovanni Aleotti
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:03
53
Victor Campenaerts
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:03
54
Bart Lemmen
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:03
55
Jack Leonard Haig
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:03
56
Igor Arrieta Lizarraga
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+0:03
57
Joshua Kench
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:03
58
Callum Scotson
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:03
59
Jan Christen
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+0:03
60
Johannes Staune-Mittet
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:33
61
William Barta
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:33
62
Lawrence Warbasse
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:33
63
Tim Rex
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:33
64
Nicholas Schultz
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:41
65
Fabio van den Bossche
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:41
66
Diego Ulissi
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:50
67
Lorenzo Milesi
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:50
68
Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes
MOVISTAR TEAM+1:48
69
Michael Valgren
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+1:48
70
Enric Mas Nicolau
MOVISTAR TEAM+2:29
71
Gianni Moscon
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+2:45
72
Jefferson Cepeda Ortiz
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+2:45
73
Ben Turner
NETCOMPANY INEOS+3:46
74
James Shaw
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+5:18
75
Fredrik Dversnes
UNO-X MOBILITY+7:15
76
Filippo Magli
BARDIANI CSF 7 SABER+7:15
77
Christopher Hamilton
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+7:15
78
Jonas Rutsch
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+7:15
79
Jonas Geens
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+7:15
80
Magnus Sheffield
NETCOMPANY INEOS+7:15
81
Gianmarco Garofoli
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+7:15
82
Gijs Leemreize
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+7:15
83
Jonathan Milan
LIDL-TREK+7:15
84
Fran Miholjević
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+7:15
85
Connor Swift
NETCOMPANY INEOS+7:15
86
Casper Cornelis van Uden
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+7:15
87
Manuele Tarozzi
BARDIANI CSF 7 SABER+7:15
88
Frank van den Broek
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+7:15
89
Alessandro Pinarello
NSN CYCLING TEAM+7:15
90
Simone Gualdi
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+7:15
91
Paul Magnier
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+7:15
92
Nikita Tsvetkov
BARDIANI CSF 7 SABER+11:57
93
Aleksandr Vlasov
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+11:57
94
Vicente Rojas Naranjo
BARDIANI CSF 7 SABER+11:57
95
Mirco Maestri
TEAM POLTI VISITMALTA+11:57
96
Thomas Pesenti
TEAM POLTI VISITMALTA+11:57
97
Cyril Barthe
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+11:57
98
Nickolas Zukowsky
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+11:57
99
Dion Allan Smith
NSN CYCLING TEAM+11:57
100
Luca Paletti
BARDIANI CSF 7 SABER+11:57
101
Filippo Turconi
BARDIANI CSF 7 SABER+11:57
102
Enrico Zanoncello
BARDIANI CSF 7 SABER+11:57
103
Simone Consonni
LIDL-TREK+11:57
104
Mattia Bais
TEAM POLTI VISITMALTA+11:57
105
Maximilian Richard Walscheid
LIDL-TREK+11:57
106
Darren Rafferty
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+11:57
107
Paul Penhoet
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+11:57
108
Ryan William Mullen
NSN CYCLING TEAM+11:57
109
Robert Donaldson
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+11:57
110
Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier
LIDL-TREK+11:57
111
Mathijs Paasschens
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+11:57
112
Robert Stannard
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+11:57
113
Rémi Cavagna
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+11:57
114
Ludovico Crescioli
TEAM POLTI VISITMALTA+11:57
115
Dries van Gestel
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+11:57
116
Filippo Zana
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+11:57
117
Wouter Poels
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+11:57
118
Andrea Raccagni Noviero
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+11:57
119
Nelson Oliveira
MOVISTAR TEAM+11:57
120
Matteo Sobrero
LIDL-TREK+11:57
121
Filippo Ganna
NETCOMPANY INEOS+11:57
122
Mikkel Norsgaard Bjerg
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+11:57
123
António Tomas Morgado
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+11:57
124
Hartthijs de Vries
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+11:57
125
Niklas Larsen
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+11:57
126
Tim Naberman
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+11:57
127
Elmar Reinders
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+11:57
128
Pascal Ackermann
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+11:57
129
Tord Gudmestad
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+11:57
130
Robin Froidevaux
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+11:57
131
Tim Torn Teutenberg
LIDL-TREK+11:57
132
Matyáš Kopecký
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+11:57
133
Rasmus Pedersen
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+11:57
134
Christopher Jensen
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+11:57
135
Dylan Groenewegen
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+11:57
136
Johan Jacobs
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+11:57
137
Tomas Kopecký
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+11:57
138
Axel Huens
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+11:57
139
Lukáš Kubiš
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+11:57
140
Martin Marcellusi
BARDIANI CSF 7 SABER+11:57
141
Diego Pablo Sevilla Lopez
TEAM POLTI VISITMALTA+11:57
142
Juan Pedro Lopez Perez
MOVISTAR TEAM+11:57
143
Lorenzo Rota
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+11:57
144
Jardi Christiaan van der Lee
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+11:57
145
Tobias Bayer
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+15:06
146
Giovanni Lonardi
TEAM POLTI VISITMALTA+15:06
147
Luca Vergallito
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+15:06
148
Nico Denz
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+15:06
149
Ayco Bastiaens
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+15:06
150
Tobias Lund Andresen
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+15:06
151
Fabian Lienhard
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+15:06
152
Sean Flynn
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+15:06
153
Arjen Livyns
XDS ASTANA TEAM+15:06
154
Timo Kielich
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+15:06
155
Johan Price Pejtersen
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+15:06
156
Jensen Plowright
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+15:06
157
Luca Mozzato
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+15:06
158
Ivan Garcia Cortina
MOVISTAR TEAM+15:06
159
Warren Barguil
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+15:06
160
Matteo Malucelli
XDS ASTANA TEAM+15:06

How the chase stalled

It all started with the rather bizarre tactical misjudgement of Unibet Rose Rockets and Soudal-Quickstep who worked hard to keep the breakaway within two minutes through the opening phase, an investment that made little sense given the climbing still to come. The route included Colle Giovo and Bric Berton, with 2,250 metres of climbing across the stage and more than 50km from the final summit to Novi Ligure. Any break held that tight over flat roads was likely to be caught anyway once the climbs began. All this early pacing did was cause chaos as the early break decided to sit up with new moves from more dangerous riders going clear as well as Unibet Rose Rockets and Soudal-Quickstep burning valuable men they will need later.

The setup for the climbs was clear as well. So many people predicted that Movistar would repeat their intense pace on the climbs of stage 4 here on the stage 12 ascents as well. And they did just that. Movistar pushed the pace to shed the pure sprinters, and it worked. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets), Paul Magnier (Soudal-Quickstep) and other headline fast men dropped out of contention, leaving a reduced group where Orluis Aular (Movistar) could realistically contest the finish. The tactic was sound. The execution ran out of fuel. Movistar used too many riders making the race hard and arrived at the finale without the numbers to control it. Despite help from other depleted teams such as EF Education-EasyPost, who worked for Estonian national champion Madis Mihkels. Aular finished sixth, three seconds behind Segaert.

There was some bad luck as well, Ben Turner (Netcompany-Ineos) worked hard to be involved in the finale and made it into the lead group after the climbs. However, as the bunch worked hard to kill off the hopes of Milan, Magnier and the other pure sprinters Turner suffered a puncture. He had to ride solo for a while before teammate Jack Haig dropped back. In the end, he ran out of gas and was unable to sprint, finishing almost four minutes down.

That left a front group containing Vernon, Aular, Sakarias Koller Løland (Uno-X Mobility), Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Mihkels and a handful of other finishers who could all plausibly win a reduced sprint. NSN had come to the Giro targeting sprint victories on different terrains, and Vernon had done the hard work to survive the climbs. The setup was exactly the kind of finish his team had planned for.

Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) was riding on the front for Jonas Vingegaard, whose interest in a sprint finish was nil. That presence of the entire team of Visma | Lease a Bike at the head of the group gave the peloton structure but not urgency. Vingegaard's team was protecting their GC leader, not policing attacks for someone else's sprint. Segaert recognised the gap between organisation and intent.

His attack came into a corner, where he used bike handling and the angle of the bend to open metres quickly before the group behind could react in a straight line. By the time anyone started a counter move, Fabio van den Bossche (Soudal-Quickstep) and Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) both worked to bridge solo instead of working for their faster riders of Stuyven and Aular.

NSN only reached the front with 300 metres remaining, by which point Segaert's gap was already decisive. Uno-X had Løland in the group and the same incentive to chase, yet neither team committed early enough. Both left the responsibility to chase to others, each apparently waiting for the other, or for Visma, to close the door. Nobody did.

The result was a stage where every team could point to a reasonable justification for their own decisions in isolation. Movistar shaped the race correctly but spent too much doing it. Visma rode for GC, which was their job. NSN and Uno-X had the legs and the motivation but not the willingness to spend first. Segaert, three seconds clear at the line, was the only rider who acted on what the road was offering while everyone else was still calculating.

Tim Bonville-Ginn headshot

Tim Bonville-Ginn

Pro cycling contributor

Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked in cycling for well over a decade with his articles being featured across publications such as Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Cyclist, Rouleur, Eurosport, Road cc, Domestique, and more.

As well as writing, Tim has worked as a social media and press manager for professional teams Human Powered Health, Global 6, and Saint Piran across Europe as well as commentating on races such as the African Continental Championships, Tour de Feminin and multiple rounds of the British road and circuit series for Golazo and Monument Cycling.

Expertise:Racing