Peloton Cafe || 2015 Giro d’Italia Stage 13 – Sacha Modolo (image copyright Team Lampre-Merida)
A crash 3.2km before the finish of another rain-soaked stage saw Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) lose 36 seconds with respect to Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team), and Richie Porte (Team Sky) lose more than two minutes. Aru took the Maglia Rosa, with Contador dropping into second place at 19 seconds, with Aru’s team-mate Mikel Landa still third at 1’14”. Richie Porte now lies 17th at 5’5″.
2015 Giro d’Italia: Stage 13 Results
The stage, Montecchio Maggiore to Jesolo (147km) was won in a bunch sprint by Sacha Modolo (Lampre Merida), who brought his team its third stage win so far in this 98th Giro d’Italia. Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Fractory Racing) was 2nd in the stage and Elia Viviani (Team Sky) was third. Viviani regained the Maglia Rossa.
In the rain, the riders covered a short and flat stage which started in Montecchio Maggiore and finished in Jesolo.
The sprinters did not miss the opportunity to fight for the victory in the sprint, chasing and neutralizing the breakaway of three riders (Pineau, Frapporti and Zabel).
At 3 km to go, LAMPRE-MERIDA took to the head of the bunch and Ferrari and Richeze showed once again to be a formidable lead-out train: the Italian-Argentinian duo led Modolo to the final straight and gave him the best possible opportunity to win the race.
Sacha’s sprint was very fast and full of power and he took a deserved victory ahead of Nizzolo and Viviani.
“It’s something amazing obtaining the first victory in the Giro d’Italia on the roads close to my hometown, everything is so perfect– Modolo said – At the end of a long chase, finally I got the succeess: I missed it in Genoa, I was close to it in Castiglione della Pescaia, while I lost a good chance in Fiuggi. In Forlì, the breakaway anticipated the sprints, so today arrival was the last chance for the sprinters before Milan: I did not miss it, thanks to an amazing support I received from my team mates.
Richeze and Ferrari were impressive, they led me to the final straight where I could perform the ideal sprint.
This is the best victory in my career“.
