2018 Giro d'Italia Stage 13 Results & Recap
Stage 13 of the 2018 Giro d'Italia is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Elia Viviani back as the fastest of the field as the Giro enters Veneto\nBy Stas Uittenbogaard
If there is one thing this Giro has taught the riders, it is that no stage is as simple as it looks. Today however, neither the 4th category climb nor Wilier – Selle Italia rider Marco Coledan’s late attack could prevent the fast men of the peloton from fighting it out, and the fastest man of all was Elia Viviani.
The Italian sprinter for Quickstep Cycling won his third stage in the 2018 Giro d’Italia, increasing his grasp on the Maglia Ciclamino. This grasp had looked to be somewhat unsteady after Viviani was absent from the front in two important stages for the sprinters this week. This is what the stage winner said today: “After a few difficult days this is what I need and what the team need. The team, after yesterday really deserve it. Yesterday was really bad, really bad. You win in the beginning, then you want to keep this jersey. Like I said this morning, a sportive life is never easy. You win, you lose, you have a dream and when things go wrong you need to start another dream. Now it’s one week to go, the chance for this jersey is back up, but I’m mostly happy with the win today.”
At the finish, Viviani took 50 points towards the points classification as Sam Bennett (Bora Hansgrohe) had to settle for second place. Both riders surged past their competitors in the last hundred metres, as Danny van Poppel (3rd, LottoNL Jumbo), Sacha Modolo (4th, EF Education First Drapac) and Ryan Gibbons (5th, Dimension Data) found that they all launched too early. All general classification riders arrived safely together in what might have been their first calm day of the week.
PLAY BY PLAY
An early break formed shortly after the stage start in Ferrara. Eugert Zhupa (Wilier) returns to the front for the second day in a row, together with Bardiani’s Alessandro Tonelli, Andrea Vendrame (Androni) and world tour riders Marco Marcato (UAE) and Markel Irizar (Trek Segafredo). The five quickly increased their lead, but the peloton kept them on a tight leash at around two minutes and fifty seconds. In the peloton, it was notable that Education First and LottoNL Jumbo were absent from the chase, tactically opting to save their energy for the final.
The two intermediate sprints were the only diversion for the break along the long route, and the riders were not ready to simply roll through: at the first sprint, Marcato outsprinted Albanian rider Zhupa. For what seems the first time this Giro, Elia Viviani did not take the opportunity to collect leftover points from the peloton. At the second intermediate sprint, Zhupa was prepared and outsprinted his companions to get the points –and monetary price- he wanted. This time Viviani did shoot by Cesare Benedetti to collect the leftovers.
At the Montello, the 4th category climb at 20 kilometres from the finish line, the early break still had a minute advantage on the peloton as they rolled through the KOM point all five together. A counterattack formed with Tony Martin (Katusha Alpecin), Eros Cappechi (Quickstep), Krist Neilands and Davide Ballerini (Androni). They were not given much leeway, as classification teams joined in to keep their riders safe on the wet descent. As this group and the early break both were caught, it was Katusha’s train that set the pace for the peloton. The Swiss team burned their matches early however, as their sprinter Baptiste Plankaert finished 9th on the stage. Another late attack by Marco Coledan seemed to profit from a hesitation behind and was only caught with 300 metres to go. Education Drapac and LottoNL Jumbo brought their trains to the front, but to no avail: when both Modolo and Van Poppel went, Viviani and Bennett launched from behind. As the peloton rounded the final corner at less 100 metres from the line, Viviani was already in front and sped over the line confidently. \n
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