Aussie cyclist Chris Hamilton narrowly misses Giro d’Italia stage win

Australian rider Chris Hamilton has finished a close second on stage 12 at the Giro d’Italia, missing out on a maiden stage in by a matter of centimetres.

Hamilton fell just short on an undulating 212km stage from Siena to Bagno di Romagna, that featured 4,000 metres of climbing, losing out to Italian rider Andrea Vendrame after five hours, 43 minutes in the saddle.

“It was pretty cool,” a clearly thrilled Hamilton said of his performance.

“I would have loved to have won … I think the last time I was in a bike race going for the win was, I don’t know, five years ago.

“Obviously to get the win would have been massive.

“I know I gave it my all, maybe I could have done the timing a little bit different, but in the end, the strongest guy won.”

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The pair finished more than 10 minutes ahead of the peloton, where Egan Bernal preserved his lead in the race for the pink jersey.

New Zealand rider George Bennett finished third on the stage, 15 seconds back, after his breakaway companion Gianluca Brambilla was penalised for an irregular sprint.

Marc Soler crashed out of the stage after falling just three kilometres in, while Alessandro De Marchi — who wore the race leader’s pink jersey earlier in the race — broke his collarbone, six ribs and two vertebrae in a separate incident.

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Gino Mader, Kobe Goossens, Faisto Masnada and Alex Dowsett all were forced to abandon through illness or injury.

Hamilton and Vendrame were part of a 16-rider group that were allowed to escape after a frenetic start to the day’s racing.

Vendrame attacked on the final of the day’s four categorised climbs and were joined by Hamilton, Brambilla and Bennett to compete for the stage honours.

“I wasn’t really sure where I stood in the company I was with,” Hamilton said, although the Aussie, who celebrated his birthday just two days prior, more than held his own.

Hamilton joined Vendrame in attacking three kilometres from the finish to duke it out for the win as Bennett and Brambilla failed to react.

“I’m really glad I got my opportunity and I made the most of it as much as could,” Hamilton said.

Friday’s 13th stage is a flat, 198km ride from Ravenna to Verona, which will likely end in a bunch sprint, giving the general classification riders some respite before Saturday’s Queen stage.

The toughest stage of the race consists of 205km through the Alps from Cittadella to the formidable climb of Monte Zoncolan — a 10.5km ascent with an average gradient of six per cent.