Giro d’Italia 2023: mountain arrival in Crans Montana goes on a Rubio – 13th stage to Switzerland massively shortened

Due to the constant rain at the start, the stage was shortened from 199 to 75 kilometers at the urging of the riders, the cold on the planned descent from the tunnel at the Great St. Bernhard caused the peloton to use the “Extreme Weather Protocol” in coordination with the organizers.

After a short test drive from the starting point, the buses took the drivers to the foot of the second of the original three category 1 mountains. There we warmed up on the turbo trainers and then started shortly after 3:00 p.m. At full throttle we went into the difficult ascent to the Croix de Coeur (2174m), where the five-man breakaway group of the day quickly formed.

Pinot won that first climb, while the Ineos team only controlled the gap to the top for Thomas in the pink jersey, holding it at around three and a half minutes. After a partly technical descent and a flat section through the Rhône valley, the trio of Pinot (Groupama), Cepeda (Team EF) and Rubio (Movistar) pulled away on the final climb. The Frenchman and the Ecuadorian attacked each other several times in vain and became increasingly annoyed in the fight for the day’s victory, while Rubio was always able to catch up. The decision was then only made in the sprint in the last meters, where the Colombian was the laughing third.

Giro: Pinot climbs back into mountain jersey

In the standings, Pinot climbed five places to tenth, 3:13 behind the pink jersey, while the Austrian Patrick Konrad slipped down to 16th (+7:33). The attack by Hugh Carthy (EF) finally gained the Brit six seconds, he is now eleventh (+3:16), the few other attacks from the group of favorites, such as Damiano Caruso, were unsuccessful.

Giro d’Italia: Pedersen retires

The Dane Mads Pedersen did not start the 13th stage, the ex-world champion had to give up his chances of a possible victory in the Giro points classification due to a slight illness.

On Saturday, the Giro returns to Italy on stage 14, covering 194 kilometers to Cassano Magnago. The only but very big obstacle is the Simplon Pass in the first third of the race, after that the course is almost flat.