Ilan Van Wilder frustrated about today's Giro d'Italia stage: "It was me against the world"

Ilan Van Wilder finished sixth in stage 12 of Giro d'Italia. The 23-year-old Soudal Quick-Step rider was part of a large early breakaway, but missed the decisive move with 98 km to go, when four riders broke away.

“There are only three of us in our team and I was alone in the breakaway against many teams with two or three riders,” Van Wilder explained. “There was no cooperation because the group was too big and there was an attack before the climb. I had gone to get a jacket and I saw that group riding away. I tried so many times to get away, but every time everything was closed.”

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Van Wilder says that the other riders sat on his wheel. “Probably because they were afraid of that climb, I don't know. In the end I rode the climb from top to bottom and I got close to pursuers”, he refers to Alberto Bettiol and Cristian Scaroni, who took their chance to counteratttack earlier.

After the climb, Marco Frigo rude away from the group with Van Wilder, thus the first five places were forgiven to Van Wilder. “I won the sprint, but that was the highest possible. I couldn't do more. With one more man it would have been a different story. I saw them coming in the sprint, but I thought: 'Not you.' I am really frustrated about today.”

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A consolidation prize for today's Van Wilder's effort is that he moves up to 16th spot in GC, slightly over 6 minutes down to Maglia Rosa wearer Geraint Thomas.

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GC standings following stage 12 of the 2023 Giro d'Italia