Mads Pedersen has won his fourth stage of this year's Giro d'Italia after beating Wout van Aert to the line, while Isaac del Toro has marginally extended his overall lead to retain the pink jersey.
As the riders neared the finish of the 180-kilometre ride from Rovigo to Vicenza, Pedersen (Lidl–Trek) was fourth when he launched his bid for victory in the 13th stage on the uphill sprint, squeezing his way past as Van Aert stayed close on his wheel.
Del Toro had done well to earn bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint, but the 21-year-old did not have the legs to challenge the sprint heavyweights as he settled for third, leaving Pedersen and Van Aert to battle it out for victory.
Ultimately, it was Pedersen who powered through to the finish to take the win by less than a bike length, even as Van Aert — riding for Visma—Lease a Bike — tried his best to make a last-ditch lunge.
"What an incredible Giro this is," Pedersen said.
"Timing my effort was dictated by instinct. I had to open up on the right side close to the barriers. So I went a bit earlier than I wanted to.
"On such a hard day and a finale like this, everyone has burning legs in the finale. It was definitely nice to have seen it before.
"I'm happy with this win and adding another 50 points for the Maglia Ciclamino [purple jersey]. I'm overwhelmed with winning again."
Del Toro leads his UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso by 38 seconds in the general classification.
Antonio Tiberi of Bahrain Victorious is 1:18 behind in third place.
Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), who was 20th in stage 13, is the best-placed Australian in the general classification.
He holds down 14th position, 3:37 adrift of del Toro.
Reuters/ABC
