Italian champion Giacomo Nizzolo on Friday finally got a win on the Giro d’Italia after 11 second-place finishes with a well-timed sprint finish in stage 13.
The Qhubeka rider had held the record for the most podium finishes with 16 in total over seven previous appearances in the race around Italy.
The 32-year-old sprinted to victory at the end of a flat stage before the race yesterday was to head for the feared Monte Zoncolan, with Colombian Egan Bernal still wearing the leader’s pink jersey.
Photo: AFP
“This win gives a lot of meaning to my career,” Nizzolo said. “On several occasions I thought I could have won and I made mistakes, but I knew I had the potential to win at the Giro d’Italia as well as elsewhere.”
On Friday, the sprinters had their last chance to impress on the flat more than 198km from Ravenna, to mark 700 years after the death there of Italian literary giant Dante Alighieri.
Breakaway riders Simon Pellaud, Samuele Rivi and Umberto Marengo were reeled in with 7km to go.
Jumbo Visma’s Edoardo Affini made a break with 300m to go but Nizzolo chased him down to snatch his first stage win under the Porta Nuova in Verona.
“Finally,” he shouted after his 27th career victory and first on a Grand Tour.
It was his team’s second win in three days after Swiss Mauro Schmid.
Slovak Peter Sagan of Bora-Hansgrohe rounded out the podium to retain the cyclamen jersey for the points classification.
“Today it wasn’t the most suitable finish for me,” Nizzolo said. “Edoardo Affini was my point of reference for this 3km straight line at the finish. As he moved to the right side, I reacted. I took the risk of losing in order to win.”
Bernal finished among the leading group including Russian rival Aleksandr Vlasov, who remains second overall, 45 seconds behind Bernal.
For the 2019 Tour de France winner it was his fifth pink jersey.
“Finally an easy day; tomorrow we have a hard day,” 24-year-old Bernal said.
“It would be special to win atop the Zoncolan, but that means controlling the whole peloton, so I’d be happy if I just keep the Maglia Rosa,” he said.
“In my opinion, the Giro still has a long way to go. I have a little bit of an advantage, but everything can happen in this race,” he added.
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