Bettiol wins Giro stage as Eulalio retains pink

Image source, Getty Images

• Published2 hours ago

Italy's Alberto Bettiol won stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia with a stunning acceleration on the final climb in the Italian lakes.

Bettiol, of XDS-Astana, rocketed past Norway's Andreas Leknessund over the top of the ascent on a road packed with fervent Italian fans, after the pair pulled away from the rest of a strong breakaway group.

Bettiol, 32, eventually won the 189km stage in bright sunshine by 26 seconds over Uno-X Mobility's Leknessund, despite nearly crashing after bouncing violently over a drain grate as he took more and more risks to secure victory.

Belgium's Jasper Stuyven of Soudal-Quick Step finished third at the head of a smaller group, 44 seconds back, with Britain's Mark Donovan fifth.

"I won [this stage] before because all the family are here, and my girlfriend and her family are from Verbania, so I consider it my second house," said Bettiol afterwards.

"But winning like this is something I will bring forever with me. I knew every single corner in last 50km because sometimes I train here. For me [I was] at the limit for this climb but I knew my shape was good."

In the fight for the overall win, Portugal's Afonso Eulalio of Bahrain-Victorious remains in the pink jersey, 33 seconds ahead of Denmark's two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard.

Visma-Lease a Bike's Vingegaard, 29, is widely expected to claim pink before the three-week race reaches Rome on 31 May, and Saturday's huge mountain stage in the Italian Alps may well be the day he swaps the blue jersey of the king of the mountains for the pink one of the overall leader.

Vingegaard dismissed reports he was affected by an illness earlier in the week, insisting he felt "100%".

Bettiol added his second Giro d'Italia stage win to a palmares which also includes the one-day 'monument' the Tour of Flanders, which he won in 2019.

Meanwhile, Lorena Wiebes of the Netherlands won a sprint finish on stage two of the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas in Spain.

The star SD Worx sprinter came over the line first, in a bunch which saw Britain's Millie Couzens of Fenix-Premier Tech finish seventh.

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Giro d'Italia stage 13 results:

1. Alberto Bettiol (Ita/XDS-Astana) 3hrs 51mins 33secs

2. Andreas Leknessund (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +26secs

3. Jasper Stuyven (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +44secs

4. Michael Valgren (Den/EF Education-Easy Post) same time

5. Mark Donovan (GB/Pinarello Q36.5 Pro-cycling)

6. Josh Kench (NZ/Groupama-FDJ United)

7. Mikkel Bjerg (Den/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 1min 33secs

8. Francesco Busatto (Ita/Alpecin-Premier Tech) 1 mn 35secs

9. Markus Hoelgaard (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) same time

10. Diego Pablo Sevilla (Spa/Polti-Visit Malta)

Giro d'Italia general classification results after stage 13

1. Afonso Eulalio (Por/Bahrain-Victorious) 39hrs 40mins 34secs

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +33secs

3. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Netcompany Ineos Cycling) +2min 03secs

4. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-CMA CGM) +2mins 30secs

5. Ben O'Connor (Aus/Jayco-AlUla) +2mins 50secs

6. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3mins 12secs

7. Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro-cycling) +3mins 34secs

8. Derek Gee-West (Can/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 40secs

9. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3mins 42secs

10. Chris Harper (Aus/Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro-cycling) +4mins 15secs

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