Stage 12

The road

At the start

Ineos lose Tao, and Braida waits

Tao Geoghegan Hart broke his hip on the Colla di Boasi descent and Ineos have lost a co-leader; Geraint Thomas still leads by two seconds from Primož Roglič, who went down in the same crash. Thirty-six riders are out of this Giro now. Today is 179 kilometres from Bra through Piedmont to Rivoli, with the 9.8-kilometre Colle Braida and its twelve-per-cent ramps twenty-two kilometres from the line.

How it was won

1. 195 km to go

   The decisive split

   As the rain returns and cooperation lulls, a gap yawns open through a roundabout: Denz, Skujins and three others are away before the rest even react.

2. 224 km to go

   Colle Braida

   On the steep top of Colle Braida Skujins ramps up the pace and drops Tonelli, the leading trio holding their advantage over a fragmenting chase.

3. 3At the line

   Rivoli

   Nico Denz shoulders the lead-out himself and holds off Skujins with a show of force for the biggest win of his career.

The result