Giro d’Italia: Stage 12 reactions

Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal), stage winner: “It was amazing to follow the wheels of my teammates today”

“It was already quite strong of the team to keep me there at the front and still be there for the leadout. It was amazing to follow the wheels of my teammates today. The plan was Jurgen Roelandts would hit the last corner first, and leave a little bit of a gap and then I could accelerate in his slipstream. It worked out really good. I wanted to do the sprint from the corner and I’m happy that it worked out like that.

On leaving the Giro d’Italia: “My season is full of goals and of course I’m not happy to pull out of the Giro with the red jersey. I’m a human being, not a machine. My season is full of goals, up until October and I need to recover from this – it has been mentally and physically a hard 12 days.”

Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEDGE), second in the stage: “I’m gaining lots of valuable experience on every stage”

“We are getting closer and closer. Luka (Mezgec) and the guys did a great job in getting me up there today and you can see that the work we have been putting in is starting to pay off, it was very close.”

“Obviously I’m disappointed not to get the win, it is such a hard race but I’m gaining lots of valuable experience on every stage and Luka and myself are developing really well together.”

Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo), third in the stage: “I really have the legs to do better”

“I had to spend a lot of energy in the circuits to stay up front; it was really chaotic. I had to push left and right to find my way through many riders. In the last kilometer I had to decide whether to make an effort to take the wheel of Greipel or stay where I was. I decided to stay where I was and give everything after the corner. But then in the corner somebody made a gap. I made a good sprint for the third place because the first two were gone.”

“I got another podium today, but I really have the legs to do better,” added Nizzolo. ” It is not easy to organize in stages like this, and in the end Greipel has shown to be once again stronger. But I have to look ahead now and we’ll see for the next stages. To get the maglia rossa and a victory would be the best, absolutely top, and both are still an objective for us. We will keep working to get both.”

Aleksandr Porsev (Katusha), fifth in the stage: “I had to brake and to spend energy to come back in front”

“I felt quite good today and I was motivated for this stage because we all knew it would be a great opportunity for sprinters. So, in the final I was able to get a good position. Later however there was a crash, so I had to brake and to spend energy to come back in front. I did all I could to get a good result and finished 5th. I hoped for something more, but that’s cycling”.

Bob Jungels (Etixx – Quick-Step), race leader: “Tomorrow will be the first test in the really high mountains”

On Friday’s stage 13: “I think that it will be a really tough stage. At the moment, I don’t really know where I am compared to the others in the really high climbs. I have showed that my shape is great but tomorrow will be the first test in the really high mountains and we will see what is going to happen.”

Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep): “Nobody is really interested in the rider’s safety and their lives”

“A dangerous finale, very narrow roads, and lots of bends. Nobody is really interested in the rider’s safety and their lives.

“It was ok for the GC riders but what about the sprinters? Iit’s always dangerous. Maybe we should be planning some easier or safer finishes. Most bends are ok but maybe some wider roads.”

More to follow…