Giro 2020: Solo triumph Narváez in rain-soaked hilly race

Incessant rain in the second half intensifies the 12th stage, a long and bumpy race with 3,800 vertical metres. Jhonatan Narváez solos to victory ahead of his fellow attacker Mark Padun, who suffers a mechanical inside the last 24 kilometres. João Almeida stays in the GC lead. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 12th stage Giro d’Italia 2020

1. Jhonatan Narváez (ecu)
2. Mark Padun (ukr) + 1.08
3. Simon Clarke (aus) + 6.50
4. Joey Rosskopf (usa) + 7.30
5. Simon Pellaud (swi) + 7.43
6. Brandon McNulty (usa) + 8.25
7. Patrick Konrad (aut) s.t.
8. Ruben Guerreiro (por) s.t.
9. João Almeida (por) s.t.
10. Tao Geoghegan Hart (gbr) z.t
– all GC riders s.t.

GC after stage 12
1. João Almeida (por)
2. Wilco Kelderman (nld) + 0.34
3. Pello Bilbao (spa) + 0.43
4. Domenico Pozzovivo (ita) + 0.57
5. Vincenzo Nibali (ita) + 1.01
6. Patrick Konrad (aut) + 1.15
7. Jai Hindley (aus) + 1.19
8. Rafal Majka (pol) + 1.21
9. Fausto Masnada (ita) + 1.36
10. Jakob Fuglsang (den) + 2.20

Race report
The breakaway establishes itself after 20 kilometres of hard racing. Simon Clarke, Mark Padun, Simon Pellaud, Jhonatan Narváez, Victor Campenaerts, Etienne van Empel, Francois Bidard, Manuele Boaro, Cesare Benedetti, Albert Torres, Joey Rosskopf, Jesper Hansen and Maximilian Richeze open up a huge gap before Hector Carretero tracks them down after a chase of tens of kilometres.

The fourteen open up a gap of more than 13 minutes before NTT takes control in the peloton to bring the lead down to 6 minutes.

After the climb to Perticara the lead group has been halved. Only Padun, Pellaud, Narváez, Rosskopf, Hansen, Boaro and Bidard remaining. Clarke rejoins them, while the peloton is down to some twenty riders.

Clarke attacks before Narváez and Padun track the Australian down on the next climb. The two leave him behind to crest the last climb almost 2 minutes ahead of Clarke. The GC group is trailing at 7 minutes.

Padun suffers a broken wheel with 24 kilometres remaining and Narváez forges on alone. Yet, the rider from Ukraine comes clawing back to 10 seconds in ITT modus before he breaks inside the last 10 kilometres. The Ecuadorian wins the race with a margin of more than 1 minute.

The GC riders finish together, so Almeida stays in the overall lead.

Another interesting read: route 12th stage 2020 Giro d’Italia.