COLUMN | 3 ways in which bonifications shaped the Giro d'Italia 2022

'Bonifications', or bonus seconds, are the seconds that can be gained by crossing the finish line - or intermediate sprint - throughout a stage. In the Giro d'Italia, all stages besides the ITT's had 10-6-4 bonus seconds at the finish line, and 3-2-1 seconds at the intermediate sprints - of which there was one in each non-ITT stage, alongside one other intermediate sprint that exclusively offered points.

In the grand scheme of things, these bonus seconds in the final math become relatively meaningless. Jai Hindley won the race with 1:18 minutes over Richard Carapaz, however the effects of the bonifications are felt throughout the race and influence it in ways we ordinarily wouldn't think of.

Change #1 - Mathieu van der Poel wrestles pink jersey in Budapest

After his win in Visegrád, Mathieu van der Poel took 10 bonus seconds after beating Biniam Girmay in the sprint. On that day he took 10 bonus seconds and 4 seconds on the road to Simon Yates; who then won 3 seconds to the Dutchman on stage two. As the riders left Hungary, van der Poel's lead on Simon Yates was of 11 seconds after a pink-motivated time-trial.

If van der Poel had not been in contention on the opening day, Simon Yates would've likely taken the pink jersey in the time-trial and it would be much less likely to see the likes of Juan Pedro López go onto a breakaway on stage four [to Mount Etna]. Alpecin-Fenix had no intentions of fighting for the jersey, which gave permission and motivation for Top10 contenders to go up the road without any fight. López went on to lead the race for ten days, finished in the Top10 and won the youth classification.

Change #2 - Richard Carapaz sneaks into pole-position on second week

A move that at the time didn't go unnoticed. Richard Carapaz took one second of bonifications in the intermediate sprint just before the ascent to Blockhaus, and then three seconds on stage 11 to Reggio Emilia. These four seconds saw him overtake Romain Bardet and João Almeida, making him the best positioned rider and allowing him to race more defensively.

On the stage into Torino, he once again took two bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint positioned five kilometers away from the finish line. Besides the time on the road, he took an extra second on Hindley here, and two on the rest of the competition. This had him, at this point of the race, 12 seconds ahead of João Almeida and 14 on Mikel Landa on bonus seconds alone.

Hindley was 7 seconds behind Carapaz with this move, meaning that he specifically had to win a stage where Carapaz would not bonificate in order to jump into the lead - if there were no time differences on the road. This would be almost impossible as the two were equally matched and the final time-trial favoured the Ecuadorian, allowing him to race more conservatively.

Change #3 - Hindley puts the pressure on Carapaz, forcing a mistake

Stage 16, Aprica. After Mikel Landa attacked the ascent to Valico di Santa Cristina, only two riders from the breakaway survived the approach of the peloton - stage winner Jan Hirt and Thymen Arensman. This left four bonus seconds available at the line for the trio, alongside Alejandro Valverde.

Hindley won the sprint for third place, now putting himself only 3 seconds behind Richard Carapaz, and in striking position to grab the pink jersey if the scenario repeated itself, as Hindley seemed the superior sprinter out of the two. How much, we'll never know, but these three seconds clearly weighed heavy on Carapaz' shoulders who, despite his lead and favouritism for the time-trial, was no longer racing conservatively.

He attacked the ascent to Santuario di Castelmonte in a desperate attempt to take time on Hindley in a shorter and more explosive type of effort, unsuccessfully. However this position had INEOS Grenadiers once again try to attack on Passo Fedaia, where Carapaz himself launch the first attack. However, this proved to be a crucial mistake, because as soon as he let off the gas, Hindley attacked as he smelled blood. The rest is history...

Had Carapaz raced more defensively, his weakness on the day may not have been shown - at least not as early - which would allow him to limit the losses quite further. But he didn't, the minimal gap weighed heavy on Carapaz, who made the mistake on the last kilometers where he could loose the pink jersey.