Alec Segaert secures first Belgian stage win in Giro d'Italia with late breakaway

Alec Segaert, of the Bahrain Victorious team, secured the first Belgian stage win of this year’s Giro on Thursday during the twelfth stage. The 23-year-old from West Flanders province finished solo after a late breakaway following a 175-km ride between Imperia and Novi Ligure. Another Belgian, Toon Aerts of Lotto-Intermarché, won the sprint from a depleted peloton behind him.

“I’d already decided this last night, I must say,” Segaert grinned about his late breakaway. “It had always been on my mind. I saw that it was a good moment on the course. And I was very happy with how the race had gone: a fast pace on the climb and then the sprinters’ teammates having to ride hard. When they were all already at their limit, it was my chance to go for it in the final and squeeze out one more effort. You want to give everything for a result like this.” Segaert had never won a stage in a Grand Tour before.

Toon Aerts won the sprint from a depleted peloton to complete the Belgian one-two, with Uruguayan Guillermo Thomas Silva of XDS Astana finishing third. With Jasper Stuyven, a total of three Belgians finished in the top five.

The Portuguese pink jersey wearer Afonso Eulalio, a team-mate of Segaert, had a relatively quiet day and remains the leader in the general classification ahead of the Danish favourite Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike.

On Friday, the riders face a 189-km route between Alessandria and Verbania, featuring fourth and third category climbs in the final. The Giro d’Italia comprises 21 stages and concludes on Sunday 31 May in the capital, Rome.

^{#FlandersNewsService | Belgium’s Alec Segaert of Bahrain Victorious © PHOTO Massimo Paolone / LaPresse}