Einer Rubio wins stage 13, Geraint Thomas stays ahead

(Crans-Montana) Einer Rubio won the 13^e stage of the Tour of Italy, Friday, to sign a first career victory during a Grand Tour.

At the end of this shortened and weather-affected stage, Geraint Thomas kept the leader’s pink jersey, while there was very little movement in the general classification.

Rubio, part of the Movistar team, had time to raise an arm above his head and point to the sky as he crossed the finish line ahead of Thibaut Pinot and Jefferson Alexander Cepeda. The trio had escaped at the top of a difficult climb until the finish in Crans-Montana.

The route had already been changed earlier in the week, when the passage at the top of Passo del Gran San Bernardo was removed due to snowfall and a risk of avalanches.

And on Friday morning it was announced that this climb would be canceled altogether due to unfavorable weather conditions in Italy. The cyclists instead started the stage after the halfway point and the stage was reduced to 80 kilometers.

The race organizers said they had “decided to respond to the demands of the athletes by applying the extreme weather protocol”.

The cyclists started from the original starting point in Borgofranco d’Ivrea, but immediately after the neutral zone, they got off their bikes and boarded the team buses to be taken to the new start in Switzerland, at the foot of the Croix de Cœur climb.

When the day’s race finally started, Pinot immediately attacked and he was followed by Cepeda, Rubio and Derek Gee.

They had an advantage of almost two minutes over the leaders in the general classification when they crossed the snowy summit of the Croix de Cœur. They extended that lead to nearly three minutes at the foot of the final climb.

Pinot and Cepeda took turns attacking towards the top of the climb, but Rubio stayed quietly with them before accelerating in the final hundred meters.

The main contenders for the overall title crossed the finish line one minute and 35 seconds behind. Thomas kept his lead of two seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic and 22 seconds ahead of Joao Almeida.

The 14^e Saturday’s stage includes a category one climb near the start in Sierre, but after the descent it’s then almost completely flat for the rest of the 193-kilometre course to Cassano Magnago.

The Tour of Italy ends in Rome on May 28.