May 19, 2023 at 5:22 PM
Einer Rubio won the thirteenth stage in the Giro d’Italia on Friday. The Colombian left Thibaut Pinot behind in a shortened mountain stage in the sprint of a leading group. Geraint Thomas remains leader in the general classification.
Rubio was left on the final climb together with Pinot and Jefferson Cepeda from an early breakaway group. The Movistar rider started the sprint from far away and was not overtaken by his two breakaway companions.
The favorites for the overall victory kept quiet. Thomas only pushed hard in the last hundreds of meters, but Jumbo-Visma leader Primoz Roglic and João Almeida were able to follow.
The thirteenth stage was considerably shortened earlier in the day due to rain and went over 74.6 kilometers from Le Châble to Crans-Montana. Earlier this week, the organization decided to remove the Great Sint-Bernhard Pass from the course due to snowfall.
The stage started at the foot of the Croix de Coeur, a first category climb. After a flat section, the finish was on a 12.9 kilometer (at 7.2 percent) first category climb.
Seven riders went on an adventure on the first ascent. After the Croix de Coeur, Pinot, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Cepeda, Rubio and Derek Gee remained of this group.
At the foot of the final climb, the quintet had a lead of about three minutes. Pinot attacked several times, but failed to release Cepeda and Rubio. In the end, the three were allowed to sprint for the stage victory and Rubio turned out to be the strongest.
