Giro d’Italia 2025 LIVE: Stage 12 result and updates as Olav Kooij wins thrilling sprint

Visma-Lease a Bike’s Giro d’Italia continued to improve as Olav Kooij picked up his first win of this year’s race

(AP)

The 2025 Giro d’Italia continued with a day out for the sprinters after several intriguing stages in the battle for the general classification.

A three-man breakaway was reeled in as the riders headed onto the closing circuit in the city centre of Viadana, teeing up the expected bunch sprint on stage 12.

And it was Olav Kooij of Visma-Lease a Bike who won a thrilling, closely contested five-way battle.

Stage four winner Casper van Uden launched early but his compatriot switched effortlessly from the phenomenal leadout of teammate Wout van Aert onto van Uden’s wheel, before rounding him with ease closer to the line.

Mads Pedersen still leads the points classification by a huge margin but could not add to his three stage wins, finishing fourth, while Ben Turner of Ineos Grenadiers sprinted impressively for third, behind van Uden.

Follow all the action with The Independent’s live blog below:

Giro d'Italia stage 12 LIVE

• Giro continues with stage 12, a 172km sprint stage from Modena to Viadana
• Isaac del Toro added to his advantage in the GC with bonus seconds on stage 11
• Stage 11 was won by Richard Carapaz with an audacious late attack
• Primoz Roglic remains fifth, more than a minute off the lead
• Olav Kooij wins stage 12

[22 May 2025 15:56 · Flo Clifford]

Advantage del Toro

A fascinating sprint there. Red Bull had Nico Denz in place to fight for those points, trying to take them away from Del Toro. But the Mexican was clearly wise to the threats to his lead - and it must be an enormous confidence boost to know that other teams are marking you out and trying to deny you any more time. Impressive stuff.

[22 May 2025 15:49 · Flo Clifford]

Red Bull kilometre (33km to go)

Pietrobon wants the Red Bull kilometre - we’re starting in his home region tomorrow and he fancies the blue number on his bib and a place on the front of the start line.

Ineos Grenadiers have Kim Heiduk, of all people, off the front chasing him down - but he’s too far off. Pietrobon takes six, Heiduk four, and Isaac del Toro wants more bonuses!

He nabs two on the line, outsprinting a Bahrain rider, and his lead is now 33 seconds over Ayuso. Del Toro’s lead is almost entirely made up of bonus seconds, in fact, 30 in total. The maglia rosa suits him!

[22 May 2025 15:46 · Flo Clifford]

Breakaway caught (36km to go)

Tarozzi and Epis are caught as the peloton rolls remorselessly on. Pietrobon is the last survivor and he’s still a few bike-lengths ahead.

Interestingly, Ayuso and del Toro are moving up, brought to the front by Baroncini. Roglic is moving up in the bunch too. The Red Bull kilometre is just 2km away and there are bonus seconds up for grabs.

[22 May 2025 15:37 · Flo Clifford]

Breakaway in sight (43km to go)

A minute ago the gap was down to around 14 seconds and the breakaway were in sight, but it’s blown back out to 29 - too early for comfort to make the catch, perhaps.

Ayuso has been paced back onto the bunch by Filippo Baroncini.

[22 May 2025 15:28 · Flo Clifford]

Epis wins intermediate sprint (56km to go)

Epis and Pietrobon sprint it out for the second sprint of the day at Sant’Ilario d’Enza, Pietrobon going long, but Epis nicks the points on the line.

Back in the bunch Ayuso needs a bike change and it’s a hard chase to get back on with the speeds increasing on these long, flat roads, particularly as the riders are all scrambling to stay at the front and avoid any splits. Jayco-AlUla have come to the front now and the gap is down to 30 seconds.

[22 May 2025 15:15 · Flo Clifford]

Echelons! (65km to go)

Mads Pedersen is caught out in a split in the peloton and has to chase back on - looks like he’s isolated without teammates there. He said at the start of the day that Lidl-Trek wouldn’t be controlling things today and he downplayed his sprint chances, but this is still unusual - has he been a bit too relaxed?

He’s back on now, along with a few other riders including Luke Plapp, by the looks of things.

[22 May 2025 15:12 · Flo Clifford]

At the start line

(AFP via Getty Images)

(EPA)

[22 May 2025 15:05 · Flo Clifford]

Wout van Aert moving up (71km to go)

Tarozzi takes the maximum points atop Borsea without much challenge. This breakaway is working well together, each taking their turn. Epis is doing a monster turn at the moment with Tarozzi looking a little tired after that climb.

In the bunch, Wout van Aert moves up for Visma-Lease a Bike. He’s getting into position early to be part of Olav Kooij’s lead-out train.

[22 May 2025 14:56 · Flo Clifford]

Crosswinds appropaching? (77km to go)

There’s a bit of a battle for positioning in the bunch as the road narrows onto the climb, which Visma and Decathlon win. It stays narrow for the descent too and that’ll make it a real fight to be in the right place as they head onto the plains, where the cross-wind potential is. Steven Kruijswijk is on the front.

As for this climb, it ramps up to 12% in points but that’s the last sting in the legs before the stage totally flattens out.

[22 May 2025 14:48 · Flo Clifford]

Onto Borsea climb (80km to go)

More than halfway through this stage and it’s as you were. The break have 1:50 as they get to the foot of the day’s second categorised climb, the cat-3 Borsea. It’s nearly 4km averaging 5.5%.

Decathlon, Visam and Alpecin are still well represented at the front of the bunch. All-pink Isaac del Toro is there too and Roglic is surrounded by a load of Red Bull teammates. All present and correct.