Giro d'Italia: Zakarin wins stage 13

Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha Alpecin) took a memorable win on stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia on a day that saw the overall contenders go toe-to-toe on the first summit finish of this year's race.

Zakarin survived from the early break having dropped his companions one by one on the Colle del Nivolet but the final climb was peppered by a number of skirmishes with Vincenzo Nibali taking on Primoz Roglic in the battle for the maglia rosa; Mikel Landa launching a brave attack with over 15km to go; and Simon Yates once again losing time and with it any hope of winning the overall.

When the dust settled at the end of the stage, Zakarin claimed his first Grand Tour stage win in almost three years, and with it raised his hopes of a title challenge.

Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) finished second on the stage - a mere consolation for his squad after Yates' capitulation - while Landa gained time on his rivals for the second day in a row courtesy of his third place finish.

The finish line saw the rest of the GC contenders crawl over the line one-by-one with Rafal Majka and Richard Carapaz both gaining time. Roglic and Nibali traded attacks on the climb but finished together, 2:57 behind Zakarin.

Overnight leader Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) struggled on each of the last two ascents but showed resolve to hold onto his maglia rosa for one more day. Yates eventually came over the line five minutes down on Zakarin.

Polanc now leads from Roglic at 2:25 with Zakarin catapulting himself up to third at 2:36. Although Bauke Mollema was dropped by Zakarin and Nieve inside the closing kilometres his efforts, and those of his teammates, particularly Giulio Ciccone and Gianluca Brambilla, see the Dutchman rise to fourth.

Nibali, despite how comfortable he looked on the climb at times, has slipped to fifth. There was also heartache for Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) who animated the stage on both of the last two climbs but then suffered a mechanical just as the GC favourites came to the fore.

"I'm very happy with this victory. My two attacks weren't planned at all. I came to the Giro d'Italia to make the top 5 and I hope it's still possible," a clearly ecstatic Zakarin said at the finish.

A race of positioning

This was it. The first proper day in the mountains and the highly anticipated venture into the Alps. The beginning of the 2019 Giro d'Italia, some called it. Thankfully the stage lived up to its billing.

On the Colle del Lys the most significant and dangerous break of the entire race escaped after a fluster of attacks. The group contained GC contenders in Mollema and Zakarin but also a cluster of Trek teammates who would drive the assault for close to five hours, and a selection of mountain domestiques who would come into play as the race opened up.

Andre Amador, Hector Carrettero and Jose Joaquin Rojas made the move for Movistar. Tony Gallopin and Alexis Vuillermoz flew the flag for AG2R La Mondiale, while Mattia Cattaneo and Fausto Masnada represented Androni-Giocattoli with their dynamism and attacking verve.

Dario Cataldo, Ion Izagirre and Andrey Zeits (Astana) hung back for a later assault, while Nibali posted his brother Antonio and Domenico Pozzovivo in the move.

Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe), Victor De La Parte (CCC Team), Joe Dombrowski (EF Education First), Krists Neilands and Ruben Plaza (Israel Cycling Academy), Chris Juul-Jensen and Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott), Eddie Dunbar and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Ineos), Antwan Tolhoek (Jumbo-Visma), Gianluca Brambilla, Giulio Ciccone and Nicola Conci (Trek-Segafredo) made the split as well.

Back in the bunch, Roglic ordered his team to the front, and although lacking firepower in the mountains the men in yellow and black held the break at 2:37 with 130km to go. The gap peaked at just over three minutes, while Geoghegan Hart said goodbye to the race after crashing out.

At the foot of the Pian del Lupo the gap held at two minutes, with Mollema's men leading the break and taking on Jumbo Visma's chase from behind.

It wasn't long, however, before Astana lifted the pace. Lopez, never afraid to attack from distance, opened up the afterburners with his teammates 66km from the finish, with a move that shattered Roglic's defenses and dismantled the optimism surrounding Esteban's Chaves' state of form. Polanc was another victim, while Bob Jungels' Giro went from bad to worse.

There was a brief respite for those dropped when the race descended into the valley before the final climb, but Astana upped the pace once more with 25km to go and the break within touching distance.

The Giro comes alive

The Colle del Nivolet, never used in the race before, loomed large, and on the early sections Masnada, Izagirre, Ciccone, Dombrowski, and Carratero slipped away. Their hopes, however, were short-lived as the break swelled to a dozen riders, with 17 kilometres remaining. Trek once more regained control and their efforts saw the lead extend to over two minutes as the pace in the maglia rosa group momentarily slowed.

Jungels missed Landa's attack, having slipped back a kilometer before the Spaniard's acceleration with 16km to go and within a few minutes the Movistar rider had reached Amador and Carrettero. The Movistar three-man time trial – in the mountains of the Giro no less – was too much for Yates and even Roglic for the briefest of moments as Pozzovivo mounted a chase for his leader, Nibali.

Within a couple of switchback Roglic, Nibali, Majka, Lopez Carapaz and the impressive Sivakov had become the core chase group, but with 12km to go Lopez was forced to change bikes.

Further up the climb, and the break had been reduced to Ciccone, Nieve, Mollema, and Zakarin as they rode into the final 10 kilometres and Landa looked to put time into Roglic and company.

Three kilometres later and Landa was on his own, having shed Amador and although he had little chance of taking the stage he steadily gained time on those behind. When Zakarin attacked with 5km to go Mollema was the first to relent, and although Nieve regained contact, the Russian’s second attack with 1.9km to go was enough to take the stage.

Nibali's attacks with 4km to go rocked his rivals briefly but when Majka attacked next the Italian concentrated on marking Roglic for the remainder of the climb.

At the finish, it was clear to differentiate between the winners and the losers. Zakarin's race has altogether changed, while Landa's hope of a podium are significantly better than they were 48 hours ago. There was relief for Polanc, despair for Yates, while the battle between Nibali and Roglic gently simmers. It's taken almost a fortnight but we now have a race on our hands.

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