Giro d´Italia, Stage 13: Fuglsang sprinted to 7th place in Monselice
After yesterday`s undulating stage, today the peloton faced after more than 150 pan-flat kilometers, two harsh climbs, with gradients topping out at 20%. The stage went from Cervia over 192km to Monselice, a day difficult to predict, as everything could happen, breakaway, late attacks or a bunch sprint, the Astana Pro Team’s official website reads.
From the drop of the flag, Rodrigo Contreras and five other riders went up the road. The group had soon an advantage of more than two minutes on the peloton. The breakaway was able to hold their advantage until the penultimate climb of the day, before the escapees fell apart. However, a great effort by the young Colombian rider today. In the meantime, Jakob Fuglsang saw himself among the Maglia Rosa, some seconds behind the front group.
Unfortunately, on the descent before heading onto the final stretch, Fabio Felline got boxed in and as a result, he hit the deck and sustained some small injuries with multiples wounds. The Italian was able to finish the stage and has the okay of the team´s doctor to continue.
The race went on fire, seeing the Maglia Rosa group at the front of the race battling out for the stage win, while the sprinters tried to bridge across. D. Ulissi was the fastest and celebrated another stage win at the Corsa Rosa, while Jakob Fuglsang sprinted to a strong seventh place.
«Finally, we saw some sun today. The stage was tougher than it looked on the paper, especially the finale was fast. I am satisfied with my result today and now it is important to focus on tomorrow`s time trial. The Giro isn’t over yet, so I will give my best to achieve some good results and then we will see the outcome in Milan,» Jakob Fuglsang.
Tomorrow the 103rd edition of the Giro d´Italia will see another time trial stage. 34.1km from Conegliano to Valdobbiadene will maybe see a shake up on the general classification before the upcoming mountain stages.