André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) confirmed his sprinting dominance at the 2016 Giro d’Italia after victory on stage 12 to Bibione, beating Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) to the win.
The German benefited from an expert lead out by his Lotto teammates on the circa 8km finishing circuit the peloton took on twice, and was dropped off in the final stretch ahead of his rivals to launch his sprint.
>>> Giro d’Italia 2016: Key info, route, contenders
21-year-old Ewan then latched onto his wheel as he searched for his first stage win of the race, and it quickly be came apparent that the victor would come from that pair.
But as Greipel hit full speed and drifted the right hand side of the rode, the Australian appeared to be boxed against the barriers and was forced to slow to try and move the other side around the man in the red points jersey.
That slight hesitation meant that there was nothing Ewan could do to recover, and Greipel crossed the line with hands aloft to celebrate his third stage victory in the 2016 Giro and extend his lead in the points competition. The German is expected to leave the race after the stage with a number of tough mountain stages on the horizon.