Friday May 17, 2024 at 5:17 PM
Jonathan Milan has won the thirteenth stage of the Giro d’Italia by winning the bunch sprint in Cento. A billiard-level stage, which was rocked by fans, ended in the streets of Cento, where a bunch sprint was written in the stars. The Italian was the strongest of the sprint bombs, after he ran into problems during the fan formation earlier in the stage.
On this thirteenth day of the Giro d’Italia, a disguised rest day was on the program for many riders. The 179 kilometer stage took the riders from Riccione to Cento and had a staggering 150 meters of elevation gain. An almost flat ride. In advance, only the chance of fans gave the pure sprinters some fear. Furthermore, nothing seemed to stand in the way of a bunch sprint at Cento’s start.
The first intermediate sprint of the day was after 65 kilometers in the town of Villanova di Forlì, after which the next highlight was the second intermediate sprint. About 50 kilometers after the first, there was another sprint in the town of Conselice. Then Another 66 flat kilometers followed before the peloton reached the finish town of Cento. In advance, this thirteenth Giro stage seemed not to provide much of a spectacle. With few bends and even fewer elevation meters, the question was whether there was anyone who could surprise the top sprinters.
Italians in flight
The flat course seemed in advance to ensure that there would be little enthusiasm for a place in the day’s flight. On such a day there are often the pro-continental teams, who do not hesitate to cover the necessary kilometers on screen. Immediately after the starting signal we saw three riders standing on the pedals. Manuele Tarozzi, Alessandro Tonelli (VF Group Bardiani-CSF Faizanè) and Andrea Pietrobon (Polti Kometa) had left.
The peloton started the day with some jokes among themselves – photo: Cor Vos
The flight of the day consisted of three Italians. The trio set a good pace in the first kilometers and quickly managed to grab a three-minute lead. In the peloton we saw completely different scenes. Laughing riders, pleasant chats and waving to the camera meant that the speed sometimes dropped to about 25 kilometers per hour. Only after a few kilometers did we see some teams putting some men in the lead.
Check sprint teams
The three minutes for the trio at the front turned out to be the limit that some sprinter teams had set. For example, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Soudal Quick-Step put several men at the head of the peloton, causing the difference to fluctuate between two and a half minutes and three minutes. The race entered a stable phase, where the necessary pictures of the beautiful Italian landscape formed the highlights of the race.
The leading group of the day consisted of three Italians – photo: Cor Vos
Meanwhile, Andrea Pietrobon consolidated his leading position in the rankings for the most kilometers in the flight. In the first, fifth and ninth stages, the Italian already managed to ride 376 kilometers in the break of the day. In this thirteenth stage he was able to add many extra kilometers. Polti Kometa’s man also managed to take full advantage in the first intermediate sprint. The Italian virtually entered the top 5 of the points classification. Behind them, Jonathan Milan extended his lead in the points classification by winning the sprint ahead of Filippo Fiorelli and Kaden Groves.
Fan alarm
In the meantime, Lidl-Trek had also put a man in front and the lead of the three Italians fell to two minutes. The situation in the race remained unchanged. The race continued like this until the second intermediate sprint of the day. In the peloton, Jonathan Milan missed out on the sprint, allowing Kaden Groves to cross the line first after the escapees. Once again, Filippo Fiorelli followed shortly behind.
The man in pink did not get into any trouble during the fans – photo: Cor Vos
More than 60 kilometers from the finish, the first real sensation of the day arrived. INEOS Grenadiers threw it aside and put speedster Filippo Ganna in the lead. The peloton broke into two pieces, surprising Jonathan Milan. The Italian tried to cross on his own, but was thrown back into the second peloton. Due to the executioner’s work by INEOS Grenadiers – with the help of UAE Emirates and BORA-hansgrohe – the lead of the leaders quickly fell to just forty seconds.
Regrouping
The men of Lidl-Trek continued to make efforts to bring their leader and favorite for the day’s victory back to the top of the race. The gap remained around ten to fifteen seconds for a long time, as no other team really lent a helping hand. After some head work, the second platoon finally managed to reconnect. Peace returned, but this came too late for the leading group. The three men were caught in the violence by the platoon.
It was the signal for Martin Marcellusi (again VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) and Dries De Pooter (Intermarché-Wanty) to leave. The duo never got a big lead from the teams with sprint interests. For example, only a crash by David Dekker, Nario Quintana, Will Barta and Ewen Costiou, among others, briefly shocked the peloton. Everyone could continue their way and the bunch sprint was imminent.
Sprinten in Cento
In the last kilometers the two escapees were caught and the trains formed at the head of the peloton. Once in the winding part of the final it was a battle for the best position. In the sprint it was once again Jonathan Milan who managed to beat the competitors. A mighty sprint brought the Italian across the line first. The man in the purple jersey won his third stage in this Giro.
2024-05-17 15:17:00
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