Giro d'Italia Stage 13 preview: Sharp uphill finish could provide stage for maiden Tom Pidcock victory
Stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia may prove to be lucky number 13 for Tom Pidcock, who has been denied a win so far but will no doubt be greedily eyeing the sharp uphill ramp to the finish line in Vicenza today.
It's almost tailor-made for him, but Mads Pedersen - already on a hat-trick of stage victories and resplendent in the ciclamino jersey of the points classification leader - no doubt has his eye on it too as Lidl-Trek's brilliant corsa rosa continues.
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Stage 13 departs from Rovigo in the Veneto for a 180km run to Vicenza, taking in four category-four climbs and another steep ramp up to the Red Bull kilometre at Arcugnano, just 11km from the line.
Those slopes max out 13% on the 2.5km climb and could tempt the GC contenders to come out, potentially setting up for a manic finish as both the punchier sprinters and overall favourites battle it out for the stage win in Vicenza.
Two intermediate sprints on the flat, 50km and 93.8km in at Noventa Vicentina and San Bonifacio respectively, will provide the fast men a dry run of their sprint trains - and yet more of a hunting ground for Pedersen to hoover up more points - but the finish itself looks less friendly for the purer sprinters.
It's flat until around 1km to go, but then kicks up sharply, reaching highs of 12% and averaging a solid 10% for the final 750m. That should be enough to distance any pure fast men left from the bump at Arcugnano and set up for a reduced sprint of sorts.
Route map and profile
Giro d'Italia – stage 13 map (giroditalia.it)
Giro d'Italia – stage 13 profile (giroditalia.it)
Start time
Stage 13 is set to start at 12.55pm local time (11.55pm BST) and conclude at 5pm local time (4pm BST).
Prediction
Mads Pedersen has been incredibly strong on the punchier finishes and Wout van Aert has had the enormous confidence boost of already winning one difficult stage, getting the better of Isaac del Toro on the uphill city centre finish in Siena on stage nine. Orluis Aular has had a couple of top-five finishes on similar stages too.
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The Red Bull kilometre could draw the GC favourites into contention for the win, in which case no doubt Richard Carapaz would fancy another attack on a late climb.
But this looks a perfect finish for Tom Pidcock. Three times a bridesmaid so far this Giro, with three top-five finishes on similar ramps to the line, he's in form and certainly overdue a win.
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