Unstoppable Pedersen pips Van Aert to win Giro stage 13, Del Toro extends lead
FILE PHOTO: Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 11 - Viareggio to Castelnovo ne' Monti - Italy - May 21, 2025 UAE Team Emirates's Isaac Del Toro celebrates on the podium wearing the maglia rosa jersey REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 11 - Viareggio to Castelnovo ne' Monti - Italy - May 21, 2025 Lidl - Trek's Mads Pedersen celebrates on the podium wearing the maglia ciclamino jersey REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini/File Photo
Mads Pedersen won his fourth stage of the 2025 Giro d'Italia when he sprinted to victory on Friday's stage 13, beating Wout van Aert to the line while Isaac del Toro marginally extended his overall lead to retain the pink jersey.
As the riders neared the finish of the 180 km ride from Rovigo to Vicenza, Pedersen was fourth when he launched his bid for victory on the uphill sprint, squeezing his way past as Van Aert stayed close on his wheel.
Del Toro had done well to earn bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint but the 21-year-old did not have the legs to challenge the sprint heavyweights as he settled for third, leaving Pedersen and Van Aert to battle it out for victory.
Ultimately, it was Pedersen who powered through to the finish to take the win by less than a bike length even as Van Aert tried his best to make a last-ditch lunge to overtake him.
"What an incredible Giro this is. Timing my effort was dictated by instinct. I had to open up on the right side close to the barriers. So I went a bit earlier than I wanted to," Pedersen said.
"On such a hard day and a finale like this, everyone has burning legs in the finale. It was definitely nice to have seen it before.
"I'm happy with this win and adding another 50 points for the Maglia Ciclamino (purple jersey). I'm overwhelmed with winning again."
On a stage with several breakaways that did not come to fruition, it was Romain Bardet of Picnic-PostNL who looked for the win when he attacked on the twisting and turning downhill section near the end.
He was joined by Lidl-Trek's Mathias Vacek as the pair stormed into a 17-second lead with four kilometres left.
But two kilometres later, that lead was cut to 10 seconds and they could not keep the chasers at bay with less than a kilometre left on the final climb, as the Alpecin–Deceuninck team led the charge.
"We first tried to win the stage with Mathias Vacek. He deserves to get his chance too," Pedersen added.
"If there was a hesitation in the peloton, Romain Bardet and him would have had the possibility to win. It was ideal, I could sit behind and let other teams work."
That was when Pedersen accelerated to beat Van Aert while Del Toro finished third, two seconds behind after nearly four hours of racing.
However, Del Toro now leads his UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso by 38 seconds in the general classification while Antonio Tiberi of Bahrain Victorious is one minute and 18 seconds behind. REUTERS
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