Olav Kooij sprinted to victory on stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia after a sterling leadout from Wout van Aert in the final kilometre.
After Van Aert peeled off, Kooij jumped into the slipstream of Picnic-PostNL's Casper van Uden with the finish in sight. The Visma sprinter then came around his fellow Dutchman to pip him on the line, holding off a late charge from Ben Turner and Mads Pedersen in the process. Van Uden, the winner of stage four in Lecce, held on for second ahead of Turner.
Speaking afterwards, Kooij said the win came as a huge relief after he last won at Tirreno-Adriatico in March.
"I was waiting for this one," he said. "We grew into the race as a team with Simon [Yates] in a good position on the GC and Wout [van Aert] taking a stage win. The other sprints didn’t go right, so I’m really happy that today we could do it."
Kooij poured praise on Van Aert in particular after his teammate’s flawless turn set him up for the final dash to the line. "Only he can do it," Kooij said. "To have Van Aert's support is extraordinary, I really have to thank him and the rest of the team. They all did a fantastic job."
"We're definitely not done yet," he concluded, when asked if there was more to come from Visma-Lease a Bike at this Giro.
Meanwhile, Isaac del Toro finished safely within the main field to defend his lead in the general classification. The Mexican extended his advantage on his teammate, Juan Ayuso, in second place after snatching two bonus seconds at an intermediate sprint.
How it happened
After an enthralling day in the high mountains on stage 11, the 172 kilometre dash to Viadana took the Giro into the Lombardy region for another potential sprint finish. However, it wouldn’t be straightforward for the fast men with more than 1,600 metres of elevation gain included in the first half of the parcours.
Three Italians got up the road and into an early breakaway on the rolling terrain in an attempt to spoil the party for the sprinters. They were Giosuè Epis (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè) and Andrea Pietrobon (Polti VisitMalta).
Pietrobon was the last-man standing from the break, but the Polti rider was caught on the first passage of the line, with 26 kilometres left to race, as the peloton entered the technical finishing circuit in Viadana. Isaac del Toro burst clear from the peloton to take two bonus seconds at the final intermediate sprint point to extend his lead in the general classification.
With the breakaway caught, Lidl-Trek, Cofidis and Alpecin-Deceuninck all jostled for position at the head of the bunch in an attempt to get the jump on their rivals for the stage win. Q36.5 and Soudal Quick-Step were also present, with the wide road allowing plenty of teams to get involved in the battle for supremacy.
Visma-Lease a Bike began to come through with six kilometres to the finish as Wout van Aert looked to keep Olav Kooij well positioned. Alpecin had six-men ready to unleash Kaden Groves as Visma fought hard to keep Kooij in contention.
A world class lead out from Van Aert in the final kilometre then delivered Kooij to the win.
Results
Giro d’Italia 2025, stage 12: Modena > Viadana (172 km)
1. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 3:55:40
2. Casper van Uden (Ned) Picnic-PostNL,
3. Ben Turner (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers,
4. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek,
5. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck,
6. Milan Fretin (Bel) Cofidis,
7. Max Kanter (Ger) XDS Astana,
8. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step,
9. Matevz Govekar (Slo) Bahrain Victorious,
10. Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, all same time
General classification after stage 12
1. Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 42:43:28
2. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +33s
3. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +1:09
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, at s.t
5. Simon Yates (GBr) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:11
6. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:26
7. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, +1:56
8. Giulio Ciccone, (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:11
9. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +2:18
10 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +2:26
