Stage 12 went from Imola to Monte Berico in Vicenza. On the uphill finish that was ideal for the punchers, Simon Geschke sprinted to a great fourth place. 

Wet conditions along the road in the Giro today. It was a mainly flat stage with four hilly sections in the finale. 5 riders made the day’s break after 70 kilometers of constant attacks.

Right before the hilly sections, with 62km to go, everything came back together. On the first climb of the fourth category, the Castelnuovo, Geschke took the points for the mountain jersey. His main competitor and current leader in the mountain classification, Beñat Intxausti (Movistar Team) attacked on the second GPM and took the points there. With this move he expanded his lead to 8 points.

Towards the uphill finish, only thirty riders were together in the first group as Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) was the strongest in the sprint, just in front of Geschke who took 4th.

Geschke after the race said: “I am very satisfied with this 4th place. I was one of the strongest in the final sprint, which is very good for my confidence in these kinds of stages.

“I had to come back a couple of times after splits that happened in the group during the downhill sections and due to crashes, which took place a lot. In the end everything went well and my teammates took great care of me all day.”

Coach Addy Engels added: “Our plan was to go for a good result with Simon in the uphill sprint. Besides a very fast first half of the stage, everything went ok for us. The second half was really difficult because of the hills and the rain. With the slippery roads it was very dangerous.

“In the end, the main bunch sprinted for victory. Simon was the only one of us in that group and sprinted to a very nice 4th place. Luka [Mezgec] was initially there but punctured at a very bad moment.”