Giro d'Italia: Rubio the smiling third: Colombian wins 13th stage over 74 kilometres
Sebastian Lindner
· 19.05.2023
The 25-year-old Colombian was the smiling third in the battle between Pinot and Jefferson Cepeda (EF Education EasyPost), who ultimately finished third on stage 13 of the 2023 Giro d'Italia. The two had repeatedly attacked and wore each other down on the final climb with verbal battles and sporting attacks, while Rubio rode his pace as best he could, closing the gaps and thus saving energy, which enabled him to sprint to victory in the absolute finale. The trio had been part of a breakaway group in the first part of the mini stage, which had broken away on the Croix de Coeur.
Pinot takes the mountain jersey, Thomas remains in pink
While Pinot (108 points) took the mountains jersey from Davide Bais (Eolo-Kometa / 104), who was unable to ride the first climb of the day, the other jerseys remained on the shoulders of their wearers: Geraint Thomas defended pink and crossed the finish line with the group of favourites, which also included Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe / eleventh on the day). As did Joa Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), the best young pro.
The top 10 of the 13th stage:
- One Rubio (Movistar) 2:16:21
- Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) +0:06
- Jefferson Cepeda (EF Education EasyPost) +0:12
- Derek Gee (Israel - Premier-Tech) +1:01
- Valentin Paret-Peintre (AG2R-Citroen Team) +1:29
- Hugh Carthy (EF Education EasyPost) +1:29
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +1:35
- Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco-AlUla) +1:35
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:35
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:35
Jonathan Milan (Bahrain-Victorious) continues to ride in the Maglia Ciclamino and extended his lead over the runner-up in this classification, even without scoring any points. His closest rival, Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), did not start due to health reasons.
Pinot is now tenth in the top 10 of the overall standings, otherwise there were no changes at the top.
Rubio let Pinot and Cepeda "play"
It was only Rubio's second victory as a professional, having won a stage of the UAE Tour in February. "I came here to win a stage and now I've done it," said the winner. "I've worked so hard for this. It's nice that it worked out today." He commented rather smugly on the duel between Pinot and Cepeda: "The two of them played their game and I let them do it. That paid off for me."
How the 13th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023 went
After the stage had already been shortened a few days ago by the Cima Coppi on the Gran San Bernardo due to the risk of avalanches, the organisers made another tough cut on the day of the stage itself: due to the weather conditions, the stage was reduced to 74.6 kilometres. The first mountain, including the approach, was completely cancelled and the race in La Chable, Switzerland, was resumed after a few neutral kilometres at the original starting point of Borgofranco d'Ivera and a bus transfer at 3 pm.
After the re-start, the peloton rode from 0 to 100 kilometres into the climb to the Croix de Coeur (1st category), which was the first professional bike race ever. After a few futile attempts and around seven kilometres, the group of the day was formed: Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Jefferson Cepeda (EF Education EasyPost), Einer Rubio (Movistar), Valentin Paret-Peintre (AG2R-Citroën Team), Matthew Riccitello and Derek Gee (both Israel - Premier-Tech).
An increase in speed by Pinot shook off Ricitello and Paret-Peintre, and the group of four arrived at the top of the mountain classification, with the Frenchman securing 40 points. They then headed down into the valley on poor tarmac and narrow, wet roads.
Pinot attacks at the foot of the final climb
Downhill, Gee caught up with the leaders again. The lead grew to three and a half minutes because Ineos Greandiers was particularly careful in the group of favourites. However, the leaders lost time again on the 20 kilometre long flat section and went into the final twelve kilometres up to Crans Montana with an advantage of just under three minutes - at one point it was four minutes.
Pinot attacked right at the bottom and left the rest of his companions behind, apart from Cepeda. But Gee and Rubio also came back. While the Canadian rode his rhythm, the other three mountain specialists battled it out in word fights and lactate battles.
Even six kilometres before the finish, Pinot had still not been able to shake off the two South Americans despite numerous stages. The lead over the group of favourites, however, remained constant at three minutes. One kilometre later, Cepeda went after an angry Pinot once again lamented. But the Frenchman brought the Ecuadorian back.
Rubio the laughing third
The trio rode together until the final kilometre. 600 metres before the finish line, Cepeda launched the first attack, but it was too early. Pinot closed the gap - and Rubio simply rode over it on his rear wheel to win the stage. Until then, the Colombian had only ever held back, closing gaps.
