Results Giro d'Italia 2026 Stage 12 - Alec Segaert pulls off stunning heist with late attack as Bahrain's dream Grand Tour continues

Alec Segaert produced a superb late attack to win Stage 12 of the 2026 Giro d’Italia, timing his move perfectly inside the final 3km after a day that had been ripped away from the pure sprinters by Movistar’s aggressive climbing pressure.

The Bahrain - Victorious rider launched on the long approach to Novi Ligure and held off the reduced peloton after a tense final kilometre. Toon Aerts took second for Lotto Intermarche, but the day belonged to Segaert, who used the hesitation behind to turn a reduced sprint finish into a solo victory.

The stage had looked like a possible chance for the faster men, but Paul Magnier, Jonathan Milan, Dylan Groenewegen and several other sprinters were all distanced once Movistar lit up the climbs for Orluis Aular.

Afonso Eulalio also strengthened his grip on the maglia rosa by taking six bonus seconds at the Red Bull KM.

Stage 12 began with a restless opening out of Imperia before the race settled around a five-man breakaway. Jardi Christian Van der Lee, Jonas Geens, Manuele Tarozzi, Juan Pedro Lopez and Mattia Bais went clear after several early attacks, with Soudal - Quick-Step and Unibet Rose Rockets taking up the chase behind for Magnier and Groenewegen.

The gap briefly rose towards two minutes, but the peloton’s control soon became too tight. With more than 100km still to race, the leaders were pulled back to within barely half a minute, opening the door to a fresh wave of counter-attacks.

A larger move briefly formed, but it never properly settled, with several sprint-team riders there to cover rather than drive. The race eventually reset into a six-rider breakaway, with Van der Lee, Geens and Tarozzi joined by Johan Jacobs, Jonas Rutsch and Fredrik Dversnes. That group carried around two minutes onto the Colle Giovo, where the day’s sprint hopes began to unravel.

Movistar then took control and changed the stage completely. The Spanish team drove the pace for Aular, using the Colle Giovo to strip away the pure sprinters and turn what had looked like a possible bunch sprint into a reduced-race finale.

Tarozzi took the intermediate sprint at Stella from the break, but the escapees were already running out of road. Movistar’s pressure quickly dragged the gap down, with Tobias Lund Andresen, Groenewegen, Pascal Ackermann and Filippo Ganna among those losing contact.

Milan and Magnier also came under pressure near the top, while Van der Lee made one final move from the break to take the KOM points before the escape was swept up. Movistar’s own effort came at a cost. Javier Romo, who had been ill in recent days, abandoned after being put under pressure by the tempo of his own team-mates.

The descent after the Colle Giovo briefly allowed some of the sprinters to recover, with Magnier, Milan, Casper van Uden, Ethan Vernon and Madis Mihkels making it back to the peloton. But Movistar kept pressing towards the Bric Berton, a shorter but steeper climb of 5.5km at around 6%, while NSN Cycling Team also moved up with Corbin Strong in mind.

Magnier cracked again with more than two kilometres still to climb, as Filippo Zana dropped back to help him. Van Uden followed soon after, while Milan lasted longer but was finally distanced in the final kilometre of the climb. By the top, the normal sprint scenario had effectively disappeared.

Movistar had done the damage, but NSN Cycling Team and EF Education-EasyPost helped keep the pressure on across the plateau and descent, with Vernon and Mihkels both still present in the reduced front group.

That cooperation killed the chase. Milan, Magnier and Van Uden remained around a minute back and then began to drift further away, with the gap out to two minutes by the Red Bull KM. By then, the dropped fast men were rolling towards Novi Ligure rather than still fighting to return.

Behind the fight for the stage, the general classification favourites had largely come through the selection without difficulty, but the Red Bull KM added a small late twist. Eulalio took six bonus seconds to strengthen his hold on the maglia rosa, with Ben O’Connor picking up four seconds behind him.

Ben Turner suffered a puncture with 23km remaining, forcing him out of the front group at a cruel moment. Jack Haig and Embret Svestad-Bardseng dropped back to help the Netcompany INEOS rider chase, and after a hard pursuit in the Italian heat, Turner regained contact. The effort eventually caught up with him, however, and he lost contact again on the late rise inside the final kilometres.

The final chance for attackers came on the Pasturana, a short rise of 600 metres at 7.2% inside the final 10km. Giulio Ciccone tried to use it, with Igor Arrieta attempting to bridge across, but EF Education-EasyPost and Markel Beloki shut the move down before Team Visma | Lease a Bike restored order approaching the final 5km safe zone.

With the final corner coming around 3km from the line, the finale became a long, slightly rising drag into Novi Ligure. That gave Segaert his chance. The Belgian attacked just as the race entered the final 3km, opening a clear gap while the reduced peloton hesitated behind. Fabio Van den Bossche tried to chase, but Segaert held his advantage into the final kilometre as the road stretched straight towards the finish.

A roundabout in the final kilometre helped break the rhythm behind, and Segaert used it to launch again. The peloton could see him ahead on the long finishing straight, but the gap never fully closed.

After Movistar had spent the day trying to make the race hard enough for Aular, Segaert stole the finish from under the noses of the reduced sprint contenders. Aerts came through for second, but Stage 12 ended with Bahrain - Victorious celebrating a perfectly judged late strike.