Stage 13: Alessandria–Verbania
Another stage suited to breakaways, mostly flat in the first half, with climbs featuring significant gradients in the final part.
After several unsuccessful attempts, many of them by local hero Filippo Ganna, who was born right in Verbania, a group of 15 riders finally broke away and quickly built up an advantage over the peloton, eventually exceeding 10 minutes.
The stage was decided on the final climb: the breakaway group began to split apart around 16 km from the finish, before Norwegian champion Andreas Leknessund launched an attack. Following him was Italian rider Alberto Bettiol, Tuscan by birth but living and training in these very areas. Bettiol stayed a few dozen meters behind for most of the climb before accelerating and overtaking Leknessund just 100 meters before the Ungiasca King of the Mountains summit.
The Italian gained further time on the descent, thanks in part to his superior knowledge of the route, before crossing the finish line in Verbania with a 25-second advantage over the Norwegian.
Stage 14: Aosta–Pila
The first true Alpine stage, on a short route but with a massive 4,350 meters of elevation gain.
The race became lively from the very first kilometers with the climb to Saint-Barthélemy, where a group of around thirty riders broke away, including Giulio Ciccone, still searching for a stage victory.
Ciccone managed to claim the King of the Mountains points at Lin Noir and Verrogne, but behind him Jonas Vingegaard’s team kept increasing the pace in the Maglia Rosa group, slowly but relentlessly reducing the breakaway’s advantage.
On the final climb, the general classification group began to fall apart under the pressure set by Vingegaard’s teammates Sepp Kuss and Davide Piganzoli. The first of the favorites to lose contact was Ben O’Connor, followed by Derek Gee and even Maglia Rosa Afonso Eulalio, while the breakaway riders were caught one by one.
Vingegaard launched his decisive attack on the steepest section, dropping all his rivals and reaching the finish in Pila alone. Once again, Felix Gall finished second, 49 seconds behind, followed by Jai Hindley, Giulio Pellizzari (recovering well after last week’s physical issues) and an outstanding Davide Piganzoli.
Eulalio, who finished 2 minutes and 49 seconds down, lost the Maglia Rosa after wearing it for nine days, though he still held second place overall with a 34-second advantage over third-placed Felix Gall.
Stage 15: Voghera–Milan
The sprinters were outsmarted once again in a stage whose finale had seemed predictable from the start.
The flat route and final circuit on the streets of Milan appeared perfect for a bunch sprint. Probably for this reason, the breakaway that formed in the very first kilometer, made up of Italians Martin Marcellusi, Mattia Bais and Mirco Maestri, along with Norwegian Fredrik Dversnes, did not particularly worry the sprinters’ teams, but underestimating them proved fatal.
Despite never building a huge advantage, the four riders showed tremendous determination by never easing the pace, maintaining an average speed of over 51 km/h throughout the stage (the second-fastest ever) which allowed them to reach the final kilometers with still 40 seconds over the chasing peloton.
Against all expectations, their effort paid off and the stage victory was decided in a four-man sprint, won by Fredrik Dversnes ahead of Maestri and Marcellusi. The first rider from the peloton to cross the line was Paul Magnier, just 7 seconds behind the leaders.
Today marks the final rest day of this edition of the Giro d’Italia, necessary before the toughest week of the race begins tomorrow.
At the moment, Vingegaard wears the Maglia Rosa and holds a solid lead in the general classification, with a 2’26” advantage over Afonso Eulalio. However, the gaps among the riders behind are still relatively small: the favorites have already shown what they are capable of, but the climbs of the third week can still change everything.
General ranking after stage 15:
