Giro d'Italia: Fourth win for Gaviria on stage 13

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Grand Tour debuts don't come much better than this. Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) made it four victories at the Giro d'Italia on stage 13 – the richest haul since Bernard Hinault in 1978 – and he did so with the most searing sprint of the lot.

The Colombian, who had won from a reduced group on stage 3 and from full bunch sprints on stages 7 and 12, came from a considerable distance back to finish with a clear margin ahead of Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo).

Whereas lead-out man Max Richeze delivered him almost all he way to the line the previous day, this was a display of individual brilliance. Finding himself over 10 places back going through a crucial lefthand bend with 400 metres to go, he shouldn't have stood a chance. But normal rules don't seem to apply to Gaviria.

He had a gap to close to Roberto Ferrari and even after that spell in the wind he had enough in the tank to surge up the right hand side of the road, past Richeze and Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott), and then Bennett, who was already in full flow and no doubt stunned as he had to settle for a fourth podium finish.

"It was a different sprint, a difficult one. Thanks to my team we did it and we have another victory here," said Gaviria, who overtook Nairo Quintana and Lucho Herrera as the Colombian with the most wins at the Giro.

"I'm the one without most victories, but that doesn't mean anything," he added. "It just means I prepared well for the Giro."

Behind him, Ewan got into a tangle with Richeze. The Australia was boxed in behind the Argentinian and Rüdiger Selig, Bennett's lead-out man, and when he came round Richeze, he seemed to receive a shoulder barge. "It was just one of those things that happens in a sprint," shrugged Richeze.

Lotto-Soudal's André Greipel was unable to bid a fond farewell to the Giro, and he heads to the airport tonight with one win from this race. He had a bad position in the last few kilometres and despite being moved back up for the flamme rouge, he was even further back than Gaviria through that left-hander.

After what he described as "a day of survival", Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) finished safely in the peloton to retain the maglia rosa as overall leader of the race.

How it unfolded

With barely a metre of incline on the 167km route from Reggio Emilia to Tortona, there was virtually no chance that a breakaway would make it all the way to the line, though three riders put their hands up for a day of punishment and limelight.

After a few kilometres, Pavel Brutt (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Matej Mohoric (UAE Team Emirates) and Vincenzo Albanese (Bardiani CSF) were away, and they were joined briefly by Johann Van Zyl until Dimension Data called the South African back to save him for the sprint preparations later in the day.

Despite the manageable size of the break and the absence of difficulties on the parcours, the peloton kept them on a tight leash, with less than two minutes at the first intermediate sprint after 67 kilometres. It went uncontested in the break but Gaviria, as he did yesterday, clipped off the front of the bunch to mop up the spare points and extend his lead in the maglia ciclamino standings.

The gap came down to 30 seconds as the peloton set a strong tempo despite the distance left in front of them, but they eased off for a while to allow the gap to reach its maximum of 2:30. A second intermediate sprint with 40 kilometres to go went much the same way as the first.

By that point Wilier-Selle Italia were working harder on the front of the peloton than they had in any previous stage, clearly confident in Mareczko. As on Thursday, Orica-Scott, Lotto Soudal and Quick-Step Floors all had men – Chris-Juul Jensen, Sean De Bie and Pieter Serry, respectively – doing the early work before the real lead-out men would come to the fore in the latter kilometres.

The breakaway trio was caught with 22 kilometres to go and from there it was a case of getting organised and fighting for a good position. A spot towards the back of the bunch would be punished, as highlighted when around 20 riders lost contact through a roundabout and struggled to get back on as the wind blew from the side.

Inside the safety net of the three kilometres to go banner, the sprint teams picked up the pace, with Bora once again hitting the front with a full train. Greipel was alone and near the middle of the bunch, and it took a big effort to move him back up. Gaviria was initially on Greipel's wheel as they approached the left-hander, but then they swapped. In any case, Bora still had two riders for Bennett and it seemed like the winner would come from that mini group of nine that had formed.

Gaviria, though, had other plans, and he dug into that seemingly bottomless pit of power, combining it with his track nous to make it an unforgettable start to his Grand Tour career. 

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