Stage 12 of the 2012 Giro d'Italia was contested on 17 May, and the race concluded with Stage 21 on 27 May. The second half of the race was situated entirely within Italy; starting with a medium mountain stage from Seravezza to Sestri Levante, before the customary race-concluding time trial was held in Milan. Following his victory in the tenth stage, Team Katusha's Joaquim Rodríguez held the lead into the second half of the race. He maintained his lead on stage 12 – after the breakaway succeeded in staying away until the end of the stage as Lotto–Belisol rider Lars Bak held on to win by eleven seconds ahead of the remnants of the breakaway group – and on stage 13, as Mark Cavendish picked up his third stage victory of the race on one of the few sprinter-suited stages during the second half of the race. Rodríguez gave up the lead of the race at the end of stage 14, after Garmin–Barracuda rider Ryder Hesjedal attacked on the climb to the stage finish at Cervinia – the first that the climb had featured in the Giro since 1997 – taking 26 seconds out of his rival, and reclaimed the maglia rosa that he held for three days in the first half of the race. Rodríguez immediately retook the lead of the race the following day at the summit finish at the Pian dei Resinelli. Although he finished second to Farnese Vini–Selle Italia rider Matteo Rabottini on the day, Rodríguez gained 39 seconds on Hesjedal through his late-stage attack. After the race's second rest day which came after that stage, the gap between Rodríguez and Hesjedal remained at the half-minute mark for the next three stages; the breakaway succeeded once again on stage 16 as Euskaltel–Euskadi rider Jon Izagirre soloed away from a group of riders in the closing stages, while on stage 17, Rodríguez won the stage after a group of the leading overall contenders escaped on the Passo Giau. Also among that group were Hesjedal, former winners Ivan Basso (Liquigas–Cannondale) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre–ISD), with Team Sky rider Rigoberto Urán and Colnago–CSF Bardiani's Domenico Pozzovivo making up the sextet. Stage 18 saw the sprinters' last chance of victory with Andrea Guardini of Farnese Vini–Selle Italia edging out Cavendish for victory. Hesjedal and Rodríguez took near-identical gaps out on one another during stages 19 and 20; Hesjedal reduced the lead to 17 seconds in the former stage finishing at the Alpe di Pampeago, while Rodríguez moved it back out to 31 seconds following the Cima Coppi finish at the Stelvio Pass. Vacansoleil–DCM rider Thomas De Gendt moved into overall podium contention by winning the stage to the Stelvio, taking between three and five minutes from all of the other overall contenders, and moved from ninth place to fourth place at the end of the stage. Hesjedal's better time trial abilities enabled him to take the lead of the race on the final day from Rodríguez; he overturned the 31-second deficit, and ultimately became the first Canadian rider to win a Grand Tour. Hesjedal had turned the deficit into a 16-second margin of victory, the closest such margin since Eddy Merckx beat Gianbattista Baronchelli by 12 seconds in the 1974 edition of the race. De Gendt moved ahead of Scarponi for third place, to become the first Belgian rider to finish on a Grand Tour podium since Johan Bruyneel finished third at the 1995 Vuelta a España. (en)
Stage 12 of the 2012 Giro d'Italia was contested on 17 May, and the race concluded with Stage 21 on 27 May. The second half of the race was situated entirely within Italy; starting with a medium mountain stage from Seravezza to Sestri Levante, before the customary race-concluding time trial was held in Milan. (en)