Bahrain Victorious star Alec Segaert compared to cycling great after stunning Giro d'Italia Stage 12 win - 'Like a MotoGP rider'
By Leon Imber
Published 21/05/2026 at 18:49 GMT+1
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Giro d'Italia Stage 12 winner Alec Segaert was likened to an all-time cycling great by TNT Sports expert Matt Stephens following Thursday's historic feat for Bahrain Victorious.
Highlights: Segaert times attack to perfection to take stunning solo Stage 12 win
Video credit: TNT Sports
The 23-year-old Belgian continued the stunning Giro campaign for his Bahrain Victorious team by claiming their first stage win, while colleague Afonso Eulalio tightened his grip on the pink jersey with a 33-second lead over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Victory in a tumultuous Stage 12 marked Segaert's first at Grand Tour level on his Giro debut, and came about as he broke clear with a blistering attack on a corner with 3km to go, while surrounded by the entire Visma roster who had fronted the pack.
And in the TNT Sports studio, Stephens was left in awe of Segaert's winning move, which he compared to former time-trial and Classics great Fabian Cancellara.
"There was a lovely little bit of naivety in there, looking straight down the barrel of the lens," Stephens said of Segaert's celebrations. "We’re so used to seeing winners, champions take it for granted.
"Until he launched that move, coming into that corner, his name wasn’t mentioned today. Almost anonymous, but he still had to pull it off after a really difficult day.
"The technique, thinking, looking into that corner, attacking at high speed and actually carrying more pace into the corner. He’s got that initial acceleration, and the way he banked the bike over, it’s like a MotoGP rider.
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How Segaert went from 'anonymous' to 'absolute perfection' with maiden Giro stage win
Video credit: TNT Sports
"Then he’s got the engine to carry it on. It’s okay doing a big spectacular TV move like that, but to carry it off against that sort of opposition is immense, it really is. It’s the kind of thing Cancellara used to do back in the day.
"Look at him on the bike, he’s a big man, he’s muscular, but look at the small hole he punches in the air. Absolute perfection. I couldn’t be more happy for him."
Beside him, fellow TNT Sports expert Adam Blythe was blown away by the audacity of Segaert's race-winning attack.
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"When you do crit [criterium] racing on a small local circuit, you know the corner," Blythe said. "That’s the kind of move you do in a crit race, when you know the corner, go full gas into it without the risk.
"That’s probably the first time he’s seen that corner ever. So he’s gone in, win it or bin it, and that could’ve been it for him, he could have gone.
"It’s so impressive. He’s gone in there blind ultimately. Full gas, but worked out perfectly. To have the nose for it too, smell that out, it’s impressive and they’re massively underrated those kind of moves."
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Segaert STORMS to biggest victory of his career with stunning late attack
Video credit: TNT Sports
On a testing day, sprinters Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) were both dropped on earlier climbs and failed to recover to mount any sort of challenge.
Ben Turner (Netcompany Ineos), meanwhile, suffered a late puncture which saw him fall well behind.
Segaert's compatriot Toon Aerts (Lotto-Intermarche) finished three seconds behind to take second; Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) came third.
'I had it always in mind' - Segaert's strategy
Speaking after the greatest achievement of his career thus far, Segaert said he had planned his attack the previous night, and was delighted the race panned out in a manner for him to execute it.
"I had it always in mind," he said. "I saw this is a good moment and then I was really happy with how the race was going, hard pace on the climb.
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'I had it in mind' - Segaert explains strategy behind clinical late attack
Video credit: TNT Sports
"Team-mates from the sprint who had left had to ride hard and this was my chance to go in the final when they were all on the limit to push one more effort and then for this result, you want to give everything."
He added: "It’s super amazing. My first Giro, I came often to Italy to race in the youth categories as well, wore the maglia rosa in the Giro Next Gen.
"The Giro was already amazing for the team with the maglia rosa on Afonso, it’s amazing."
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