As it happened: GC riders and puncheurs battle on uphill finish at stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia

Hello and welcome back to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the Giro d'Italia, with a mainly flat 180km profile and punchy circuit finish in Vicenza awaiting the peloton!

It looks like a day for the sprinters again, but with a tricky category 4 climb lining the finishing circuit around Vicenza, the likes of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), and even maglia rosa Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) are among the favourites.

Away from news about the Giro itself, our team on the ground in Italy have been working to find out more about a possible move for Geraint Thomas into Ineos Grenadiers' management. More from CN's head of news, Stephen Farrand, below:

Geraint Thomas expected to go from Ineos Grenadiers 'team captain' to key management role after retirement

Riders are currently completing the team presentation and speaking in the mixed zone ahead of the official start at 12:55 local time in Italy.

If you missed any of yesterday's action, catch up with our race report:
Giro d'Italia: Olav Kooij claims bunch sprint on stage 12 after monster Wout van Aert lead-out

Isaac del Toro continues to lead the overall race for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, after extending his lead by two seconds on stage 12. He could be in the game for more bonus seconds today should it come down to a fight between the GC favourites, with the punchy final more than suiting his abilities.

'I'm not Tadej Pogačar, my engine is smaller' - Isaac del Toro stays humble after another day in Giro d'Italia maglia rosa

Another rider likely to be in contention at the finish is Mads Pedersen. Though the Dane isn’t taking anything for granted yet, he has a huge lead in the points classification, and could look to add a fourth stage win on yet another finish that could be in his sweet spot of being hard for the pure sprinters, but not too hard for him.

The steep incline at the finish, which rises at 10% for the final 750 metres, will force the GC riders to come into play, and they will have to be attentive not to lose time. One rider who could be vulnerable is Juan Ayuso, who admitted to experiencing pain in his knee since his crash on stage nine.

The riders are off from the unofficial start and will be racing properly in a few kilometres. 

Another rider who might excel on a finish like this is Giuio Ciccone. The Italian has prioritised GC over stage wins this Giro, and has so far succeeded by keeping himself as high as sixth overall. He talked about this stage more as one to be careful of than attack, but in the event it does end up being an uphill sprint between the GC favourites, he should be one the quickest.

Tom Pidcock is with his team car changing a shoe. He's had a frustrating time so far at this Giro, making the top five three times without yet claiming a win, but in theory this finish could be perfect for his punchy attributes.

OFFICIAL START

And they're off!

All the riders we’ve discussed so far as potential stage winners would do so in a group finish, but there’s also a chance the break might make it to the finish. We’ll have a better idea for those chances once we see the kind of riders who try and get into it.

At the moment it doesn't seem like anyone fancies the chances of the break. There's been no attack yet.

Here we go, we have our first moves. About 6 riders have attacked, most of them for the wildcard teams. 

That group now has 12 riders in it, and are a few seconds ahead of the peloton.

They've been brought back, and two riders have jumped out to try and form a new group.

The two riders are from Arkéa and Decathlon, and more riders are joining them.

 Černý of Soudal and a Groupama rider tried their luck once that previous move was brought back, but they too haven't gone clear. This is a very lively start, with lots of riders and teams interested in getting into the break.

There's no group up the road yet, but the peloton is all strung out in single-file.

Sven Erik Bystrøm is out in front on his own by a few seconds.

At the back of the peloton, some riders have lost contact, including Cofidis' sprinter Milan Fretin. The pace is very high.

170KM TO GO

It's been a breathless start, and no breakaway has been formed in the first 10km.

6 riders are trying to join Sven Erik Bystrøm.

They've succeeded, and a PicnicPost-NL rider is also trying to bridge up to them.

An Arkéa rider is with the Picnic-PostNL rider and they've both joined the others.

De Bondt, Milesi, Mozzato and Bais are some of the riders in this lead group.

Juan Ayuso is right towards the back of the peloton. Is he struggling with his knee injury?

This lead group has 15 seconds on the peloton, but are not being let go yet, with others trying to jump clear. 

The nine riders up the road are: 

Sven Erik Bystrøm

Dries De Bondt

Luca Mozzato

Lorenzo Milesi

Fran Miholjević

Chris Hamilton

Lorenzo Germani

Mattia Bais

Filippo Magli

This might be it. The peloton has slowed, and the gap is growing out, up to 40 seconds. 

If anyone want to join the nine leaders, they will have to make their move now.

160KM TO GO

The gap's up to 1-15. It seems we have our break of the day.

The peloton hasn't sat up for long. Visma-Lease a Bike have already taken to the front and started the pace-setting, the gap only having grown to 1-45.

Lidl-Trek and Q36.5 are also in the train setting the pace in the peloton, along with Visma. We can assume that their respective riders Pedersen, Pidcock and Van Aert fancy their chances of the stage win today.

Here are the nine riders in the break.

PASSO ROVERELLO

The parcours is mostly flat today before the hilly final circuit, but there are a couple of hills to get up prior to that - the first of which the riders are on now.

The Passo Roverello climbs at 6.8% for 3.4km.

150KM TO GO

The break's lead has grown a bit on this climb, to 2-10. Given the size if this group, it's going to take big effort in the peloton to bring them back by the finish.

Mattia Bais takes the KOM points at the top of the climb. The rest of the break showed little interest, with none of them in contention for the blue jersey. 

Visma lead the peloton over the top of the climb, 2-05 behind the leaders. 

That’s it for climbing for the next 100km, which are completely flat. 

140KM TO GO

The gap's holding steady at 2-05. It's still Visma who are doing the lion's share of the work.

130KM TO GO

The break's lead has grown some more, to 2:30. There's still a long way to go, but they'll be happy with how these past kew kilometres have gone.

Mattia Bais is the kind of rider who likes to sprint for everything, and on cue he sprints to take the points at the intermediate sprint. Dries De Bondt is the only rider to challenge him, but is just pipped to the line behind him.

Ethan Hayter has gone down in a crash. He's back up on his feet and looks OK.

Here’s what it looks like at the front of the peloton. Visma-Lease a Bike have committed to the most men, but there are also representatives from Lidl-Trek and Q36.5.

120KM TO GO

Their work is enough to keep the gap at 2-15.

Apart from De Bondt, who triumphed at the Giro three years ago, none of the nine riders in the break have ever won a Grand Tour stage before. They will therefore surely have all the incentive they need to ride hard and give themselves a chance of doing so today. 

110KM TO GO

The gap's come down, to 2 minutes. The chase remains a fast one.

Dodgy moment for a Visma rider as he tries to grab his musette through the feed zone, only to drop its contents on the floor. Thankfully it didn’t cause any crashes.

100KM TO GO

The gap remains as it was, at 2-15. Whether or not they will be caught probably depends on how much energy the break is using preserving this lead, but the fact there are multiple teams already indicating they want to bring them back is playing to the peloton's advantage.

90KM TO GO

We're halfway into the stage, and for the first time in a while a chunk has been taken out of the break's lead. It's now down to 1:40 - advantage peloton. 

Egan Bernal is with his team car grabbing a bidon. It'll be interesting to see how he goes on the finish - in his pomp he had a quick finishing kick on him, and in the form he's in he might stand a chance to gain some time.

Bais and De Bondt again face-off at the intermediate sprint, but this time it's De Bondt who comes out on top.

Magli also got involved in the sprint, and beat Bais to take second place.

80KM TO GO

Having come down in the previous 10km, the gap's steadied out again at 1:50.

Interestingly, in a pre-stage interview just broadcast on the TV coverage, Lidl’s Mathias Vacek says it’s “hard to say” whether he or Mads Pedersen will be the team’s man for the finale today. Though Pedersen has been on fire all race, will the ramps at the finish be too steep for him? And while Vacek is one option for Lidl, so is Ciccone, especially with GC time gains possible. It’ll be fascinating to see how Lidl approach it.

70KM TO GO

The break's lead remains at 1:50. The terrain remains flat for about another 10km, after which they start riding an uncategorised climb, and then the second categorised effort of the day.

Emīls Liepiņš's Lavian national champion's jersey has been a predominant sight today. The Q36.5 rider has done lots of the work leading the peloton for his leader Tom Pidcock.

With the terrain about to change and become hillier, the dynamic is changing in the peloton. Riders are moving up and jostling for space ahead of the turn uphill.

60KM TO GO

The gap's come down some more as they approach the climb, to 1:30. It certainly seems the break won't make it to the finish at this rate.

Multiple teams are now trying to move their men to the front in the peloton. It’s no longer just the same three teams pulling at the front.

The peloton begin the uncategorised climb, with UAE one one side of the road, Ineos on the other, and Q36.5 in between.

Team cars are being instructed to move ahead of the break. The peloton is bearing down on them, bringing them to within a minute.

However, since beginning the climb, the pace has gone down again, and the break’s lead back up to over a minute. They still have some hope.

De Bondt attacks as the break nears the top of the climb.

He hasn't gone clear and the nine remain together.

Now Germani has attacked over the top of the climb, and got a small gap.

Despite being uncategorised, this climb is a tricky one, with fluctuating gradients. The peloton had started to look close to breaking up, but Ineos have now taken control.

There's a split in the peloton.

About 25 riders have a small gap, and Juan Ayuso is having to close it himself.

The split's been closed, and the peloton are now on the descent. 

50KM TO GO

The breakaway riders are climbing again, this time up the official climb. The peloton are only a few seconds behind.

Movistar lead the peloton onto the climb.

Meanwhile out fron, Germani is still out there and leads the race by 20 seconds.

The rest of the break has been caught.

Ineos lead the peloton now, and are causing serious damage. Only about 15 riders are left in it.

SAN GIOVANNI IN MONTE

This climb is 5km at 6.6%, and causing real damage. 

In this group are Del Toro, Bernal, Gee, Carapaz, Pidcock and others.

Ayuso was again caught out by the acceleration.

It's all back together now though, the rest of the peloton making their way back to that select group.

Arensman still leads the peloton for Ineos.

Edoardo Zambanini has been dropped out the peloton. He would have been one of the favourites for the stage win, but it's proving to be harder than expected. 

The peloton is still quite small, with perhaps 50 or so riders left. Pedersen is right at the back, just hanging on.

Pedersen has been dropped.

Wout van Aert is even further down the road, his Visma teammate setting a frantic pace to try and get him back in contention.

Wilco Kelderman is the Visma rider pacing the Van Aert group.

Pedersen has made it back into the peloton.

UAE Team Emirates - XRG have taken control of the peloton, and knocked the pace off a bit. That's what allowed Pedersen to rejoin.

Scaroni has attacked out of the peloton, and bridged up to Germani, who has spent the whole climb alone at the front of the race. 

The Van Aert group has also rejoined the peloton. The Belgian is back in contention, but how much will that effort have taken out of him ahead of the finale?

Scaroni leads Germani over the top of the climb, 14 seconds ahead of the peloton.

Bahrain-Victorious are leading the peloton, which is large again have thinned out earlier on on the previous climb.

40KM TO GO

This is a tricky descent the riders are having to negotiate. Scaroni and Germani are using it to try and increase their lead.

For now, their lead is 15 seconds over the peloton.

Scaroni is struggling to hold the wheel of Germani on this descent.

A small gap has opened by the first five riders in the peloton and the rest - Del Toro has, as ever, made the split.

It's only a small gap though, and things are all back together now they've reached the bottom.

The riders now have about 15km of flat roads before the start of the next climb - the 800m Monte Berico, which they will ride again at the finish.

The peloton has slowed, allowing Germani and Scaroni to increase their lead to 40 seconds. 

Lidl-Trek have taken over control in the peloton. Is Pedersen feeling fresh enough after being dropped temporarily on the climb? Or are they working for either Vacek or Ciccone?

30KM TO GO

Scaroni and Germani's lead continues to grow, to 55 seconds. They stand a chance of upsetting the peloton, but will have to dig very deep.

Here's Germani on the climb, before he was joined by Scaroni.

As well as Lidl, Q36.5 are also contributing to the pace-setting in the peloton. They're all in for Pidcock.

25KM TO GO

The leading duo still have a lead of 50 seconds.

The peloton are having a dress rehearsal for the finish, as they ride what will be the final 3km at the finish upon completing another lap of this finishing circuit.

The two leaders' advantage has shrunk to 35 seconds, as they start the climb.

MONTE BERICO

Scaroni's pace is too fast for Germani, who was dropped in the final metres of the climb. 

20KM TO GO

The peloton eased up towards the top of the climb, allowing the gap to grow to 35 seconds. 

Germani hasn't managed to make it back to Scaroni, but the latter looks like he's sat up to wait.

Germani is back with Scaroni now. 

UAE Team Emirates - XRG take control of the peloton.

They have a big line of five riders leading Del Toro in pink.

The Red Bull Kilometre is coming up in about 5km. With only two men up the road, there are bonus seconds on offer for the GC men in the peloton.

UAE had some competition from other GC teams including Red Bull, but have taken firm control again.

The riders have begun the uncategorised climb, the top of which are where the bonus seconds are available.

Germani is dropped by Scaroni on the climb.

Scaroni is only 6 seconds ahead of the peloton, with 1km still to climb, while Germani is back in the peloton. More seconds are becomming available for the GC men.

Scaroni's grown his lead back out to 9 seconds, with 500m left to the top.

Del Toro is moving to the front of the peloton.

Del Toro and Ayuso both sprint for the bonus seconds, with the latter taking them.

That was interesting! Del Toro sat up when Ayuso went past him - did he do so to hand his teammate (and 'leader') the seconds, or did he not have the legs?

Whatever the reason, Ayuso gains 4 seconds, Del Toro 2 seconds, and Scaroni - who just about held on at the front by the top - 6 seconds.

10KM TO GO

Scaroni is brought back now, meaning there's no-one left ahead of the peloton.

Attacks are being made on this descent, including one from Romain Bardet.

Vacek is chasing after Bardet.

Vacek is with Bardet, and they're about 5 seconds ahead of the peloton.

Their lead's growing, up to 10 seconds, with 6km left. 

Visma have taken over at the front of the peloton. They are presumably still working for Van Aert but is this finish too steep for him?

5KM TO GO

With 5km to go, the gap has grown to 16 seconds. 

The gap's remaining about the same, at 16 seconds. Vacek and Bardet are working well, but can they hold on when the road ramps up for the final climb?

There are still about 60 riders in the peloton as they approach the finish.

Van Aert and Pedersen are still in contention, as is Kaden Groves, despite being dropped earlier. He has his Alpecin teammates right at the front. 

Alpecin take over. Could Groves really win on a finish as steep as this, or are they working for someone else?

1KM TO GO

The gap's coming down, to just 8 seconds, as they're about to start the climb.

Alpecin lead the peloton onto the climb, 7 seconds behind.

The catch is about to be made.

Alpecin still lead the peloton as they pass the 2 leaders.

Del Toro is 2nd in line, Pedersen 4th.

Still the Alpecin domestique leads.

Pedersen starts his sprint...

Van Aert is on his wheel, but noone else.

MADS PEDERSEN WINS

He's done it again!

Van Aert is 2nd, Del Toro 3rd.

Del Toro drifted away from the other two by the finish line, but gains some more bonus seconds, and there also might have been a gap between himself and the rest of the peloton.

Pedersen came from 4th in line with just over 150m left to ride to start his move. Van Aert stayed on his wheel while Del Toro was distanced, but the Belgian couldn't quite come around him, losing by just under a bike-length.

Behind that trio, Remy Rochas was 4th, Godin 5th, Roglič 6th and Tiberi 7th.

There was a 3 second gap between Del Toro and the rest of the peloton at the finish. In addition to the bonus seconds he picked up during the stage, that means his GC lead grows to 38 seconds over Ayuso, and 1:18 over Tiberi.

Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty and Thymen Arensman lost some time on the final climb, coming home 13 seconds behind the main group of favourites. While McNulty maintains his position of 8th on GC, Yates and Arensman fall out of the top 10 as a result, replaced by Bernal and Gee.

Despite all the work down by Q36.5, it was a disappointing finish for Tom Pidcock, who was down in 18th.

What an achievement this was from Mads Pedersen, who now has four stage wins at this Giro - just two less than Tadej Pogačar managed last year. This might have been the most impressive one yet, as this really was a steep finale that he didn’t look ideally suited to, and he had to use up energy earlier after being dropped out of the peloton.

He might have missed out on the stage win, but this was another sign that Van Aert is back to something like his best. Like Pedersen, he got the better of the climbers on a steep finish, but couldn’t quite match the Dane’s sprint at the line.

Thanks for joining us, for yet another day that belonged to Mads Pederen.

Might he be back tomorrow for yet another stage win? It's a flat stage, which should suit the pure sprinters and therefore put the likes of Olav Kooij and Casper van Uden as the top favourites; but there are a few hills preceding the finale should Lidl-Trek want to put the pressure. It promises to be another exciting stage!