GIRO’22 Stage 13: Triple Win Démare!

May 21, 2022

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Giro Stage 13 Race Report: The four-man break of the day looked like they might go all the way to the finish in Cuneo, but the peloton timed the chase perfectly and caught them 700 metres before the finish-line. French fast-man, Arnaud Démare, took his third stage win of this Giro d’Italia.

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Stage 13 last K

A more than happy Arnaud Démare

Arnaud Démare won the thirteenth stage of the Giro d’Italia. After a leading group with four had been caught in the last kilometre, the French leader of the Groupama-FDJ team took his third Giro’22 victory in Cuneo in a bunch sprint. Phil Bauhaus was second, Mark Cavendish third. Juan Pedro López finished with the peloton and kept the pink leader’s jersey.

The hero of stage 12 – Stefano Oldani

The Route:
After tackling one single climb, the Colle di Nava, in the first part of the route, the stage takes a long ride through the Cuneo plain. On the way up the Colle di Nava, the route passes through numerous well-lit tunnels. As soon as the stage hits the lowlands, the main obstacles will be ones typically found in urban areas. The home straight is on a slight incline.

Final kilometres
The final kilometres are on wide, straight and well-paved urban roads, with a few roundabouts along the route. At the entrance of the old town, the riders will ride on flagstone for 800 metres, before taking in the last km. The home straight has an average 2.5% gradient.

Another day in pink for Juan Pedro López at the start in Sanremo

The thirteenth stage started in the iconic (for road cycling) finish town of Milan-Sanremo – Sanremo. The peloton followed the final of La Classicissima in the opposite direction, but the climbs of the Poggio and the Cipressa were left out. The route headed north to the Colle di Nava, the only serious climb of the day. The stage finished in Cuneo via the Po Valley, this would be the last chance for the sprinters for some the time.

The flag drops for the start

The race started immediately with attacks from the peloton. A group of seven rode away, but Groupama-FDJ, Arnaud Démare’s team, was not happy and closed the gap. After about 10 kilometres a leading group of five riders was formed and was allowed to get away: Julius van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), Pascal Eenkhoorn (Jumbo-Visma), Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R Citroën), Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper) and Mirco Maestri (EOLO-Kometa).

Leaving Sanremo, not finishing there like Milano-Sanremo

Break of the day: Pascal Eenkhoorn (Jumbo-Visma), Filippo Tagliani (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli), Mirco Maestri (EOLO-Kometa) and Julius Van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost)

The peloton were not holding back

Tagliani, who is involved in the battle for the intermediate sprints and Fuga Bianchi classification, won the first intermediate sprint ahead of Van den Berg and Eenkhoorn. When the road on the Colle di Nava started to climb, Tagliani was gone. The other four crossed the summit with a 6 minute lead. Eenkhoorn was first, ahead of Prodhomme, Maestri and Van den Berg. The Giro lost Romain Bardet. The DSM French climber, fourth on the general classification, had been sick yesterday and was unable to continue the race.

The break worked well together – Would they go all the way?

The peloton never gave up the chase

The leading group continued to work well together and as the kilometres ticked by, things started to look more and more hopeful for the foursome. At 40 kilometres from the finish, the escape still had a 4 minute lead and it wasn’t going to be easy to bring them back. The sprinters’ teams continued to believe in their chance, but they had to work hard for it. In the last 20 kilometres the wind also played a role. The peloton split, with Richie Porte and Simon Yates, falling behind along with other riders. The battle for the stage victory would be exciting, because at 10 kilometres from the finish the difference had fallen to less than 1 minute.

The peloton had to go ‘full gas’

And it was all over for the break with 700 metres to go

Would the escapees make it, or will the victory go to a sprinter? In the last 2 kilometres the four up front started to think about the victory and not everyone wanted to take their turns on the front. At 1.4 kilometres out, Van den Berg jumped away, but Eenkhoorn closed the gap with Maestri and Prodhomme on his wheel. Under the 1K banner they only had 9 seconds, which wasn’t enough. Maestri made a last attempt, but the Italian was passed by the fast finishers with Démare taking his third 2022 Giro stage win.

Démare was by far the strongest

Stage winner, Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ): “At some point I started to doubt that we’d be able to catch the breakaway because some elements of my team had given everything they. They were very committed actually. I’ve also had the feeling that I was cooked myself. Only with 10km to go, I’ve started to believe it would be a sprint finish. I was at the limit for sprinting. It’s exceptional to get one more win. Three is a lot. I got to know during the stage from the DSM that Romain Bardet had pulled out. It’s a pity, when we know how many efforts are needed to get into shape for a Grand Tour and he was in a great shape.”

Giro’22 stage win number three for Démare

Maglia Rosa, Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo): “In the beginning, it was OK and we didn’t climb colle de Nava very fast but in the second part of the race, with the heat, it was really hard. Tomorrow it will be a different race. A harder one with the climbs. I know Superga from Milano-Torino. I don’t know what will happen but I will give it all to stay in the Maglia Rosa.”

Another pink jersey for Juan Pedro

Giro d’Italia Stage 13 Result:
1. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ in 3:18:16
2. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Victorious
3. Mark Cavendish (GB) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl
4. Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates
5. Alberto Dainese (Ita) DSM
6. Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis
7. Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
8. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Israel-Premier Tech
9. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën
10. Tobias Bayer (Aust) Alpecin-Fenix.

Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 13:
1. Juan Pedro López (Spa) Trek-Segafredo in 54:37:23
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) INEOS Grenadiers at 0:12
3. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates
4. Jai Hindley (Aus) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:20
5. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis at 0:28
6. Mikel Landa (Spa) Bahrain-Victorious at 0:29
7. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux at 0:54
8. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe at 1:09
9. Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain-Victorious at 1:22
10. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar at 1:23.