Pedersen and van Aert go head to head for Giro Stage 13 victory

It was the Giro d’Italia’s lucky 13th stage for Mads Pedersen, the Dane earning his fourth stage win of the 108th edition in Vincenza, beating Wout van Aert in a tough uphill sprint. Isaac del Toro came in third to pad his lead at the top of the GC. Derek Gee’s eighth spot was his best stage result of the Giro so far, his second top-10 result in three days moving him into the GC top 10.

The Course

There were great stretches of flat roads in Veneto on Friday, but hills in the final third of 180 km from Reneto to Vincenza would tell the tale. Three of these hills were Cat. 4’s, with a short, steep Monte Berico in Vincenza climbed twice, the second time to the finish line. In between these two climbs was a hill capped by the day’s bonus sprint.

A nontet of adventurers, five of them Italians, decided to try their luck on Friday. They weren’t allowed to wander off very far. Heading towards the longest classified climb of the day, UAE-Emirates appeared at the front of the peloton.

On San Giovanni in Monte the GC men started going at it. The peloton split under Ineos’ impetus before Gee momentarily took off with Tom Pidcock. This leading group first swelled to 40 and then the peloton practically re-formed.

There were still fugitives as the race headed towards Vincenza. A duo was allowed to dangle out front. There were no attacks on the first passage of Monte Berico.

UAE-Emirates whipped along the field as it approached the bonus sprint at the top of Arcugnano. Escapee Christian Scaroni hung on to take the maximum six seconds, Juan Ayuso nabbed four and del Toro gained two.

Just after Scaroni’s capture, Romain Bardet and Mathias Vacek attacked. Alpecin-Deceuninck pulled for Kaden Groves’ chances on Monte Berico. Bardet held on to Vacek’s wheel, but they were sopped up with 500 meters to go. Pedersen opened his sprint, van Aert holding fast in his slipstream. Del Toro put his hand in but couldn’t hold the two in front of him. Van Aert came up short on Pedersen’s left side.

Saturday’s profile is a lot like Friday except for 145 pan-flat kilometres before anything even resembling a hill and a finish in Primoz Roglič’s Slovenia.

2025 Giro d’Italia Stage 13
1) Mads Pedersen (Denmark/Lidl-Trek) 3:55:24
2) Wout van Aert (Belgium/Visma-Lease a Bike) s.t.
3) Isaac del Toro (Mexico/UAE-Emirates) +0:02
8) Derek Gee (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) s.t.

2025 Giro d’Italia GC
1) Isaac del Toro (Mexico/UAE-Emirates) 46:32:59
2) Juan Ayuso (Spain/UAE-Emirates) +0:38
3) Antonio Tiberi (Italy/Bahrain-Victorious) +1:18
5) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Red Bull) +1:35
10) Derek Gee (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +2:54