Giro d'Italia 2014: Stage 13

Welcome to live coverage of Stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia from Fossano to Rivarolo Canavese.

It's a sunny day in Fossano as the riders get themselves ready for the start in just over 15 minutes.

A quick look at what the riders can expect today. With only two fourth category climbs, it's a rare chance for the sprinters.

Elia Viviani is up for it today. He's had some bad luck during this Giro d"Italia and was caught up in that big pile-up on stage 10. The Italian had this to say on Twitter:

"#Giro sprint stage ...@cannondalePro we try again, then we hope that "someone else" is with us today! #facciamolagirare" (let's go)

Obviously the big news from yesterday was Rigoberto Urán's stage win that moved him into pink.

And we're off, as the rider roll out of Fossano

As we wait for the riders to get out of Fossano to take the start proper, here is a look at how things finished yesterday, with Omega Pharma-QuickStep taking four of the top 10 positions.

1 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:57:34
2 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:01:17
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:01:34
4 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:01:39
5 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:01:53
6 Wout Poels (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:02:00
7 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:02:03
8 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:02:07
9 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:09
10 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:12

The result of yesterday's stage was Urán and Evans swapped places. With the sprinters in action today, the Colombian is likely to take the jersey into the first big mountains. Here is how the top 10 stands at the moment.

1 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 49:37:35
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:37
3 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:01:52
4 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:32
5 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:02:50
6 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 0:03:29
7 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:37
8 Wout Poels (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:04:06
9 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:04:20
10 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Trek Factory Racing 0:04:41

UCI president Brian Cookson has been out at the Giro d'Italia for the last couple of days and took to the podium after yesterday's stage. He spoke to the assembled media about the reform commission, Team Alonso and the Hour Record. You can read the full article here.

We've barely got going and there is already a breakaway. Five men have got up the road.

The five men out front are Jackson Rodriguez (Androni), Marco Canola (Bardiani CSF), Jeffry Johan Romero (Colombia), Gert Dockx (Lotto-Belisol), and Angelo Tulik (Europcar)

Maxim Belkov (Katusha) may also be in the break, but that hasn't been confirmed.

The leaders have 1:30 on the peloton at the moment. Belkov is actually chasing the five leaders, but he hasn't joined them yet.

Jackson Rodriguez is the best placed rider in this group, but at 57 minutes back he is not a threat to the maglia rosa.

Belkov has joined the five men out front, making this an escape group of six now.

Those of you who saw yesterday's stage of the Giro would have seen Tobias Ludvigsson's nasty crash. Good news is that he didn't break anything. You can read up on the Swede's condition here.

140km remaining from 157km

After Belkov joins the leaders, the gap grows to 1:57. It looks like these are the chosen few for the day.

We're now just over half way through this Giro d'Italia, how time flies. Over the last 12 stages we've built up a large catalogue of videos. Head over to our YouTube channel to watch all the latest reaction from the race, and make sure to subscribe so you don't miss a thing.

Nairo Quintana will be happy to have a bit of rest before the riders hit the big mountains tomorrow. He's not had the best Giro d'Italia. First it was a leg injury that hampered the Colombian, now he is suffering with a cold. He's still hoping to produce a good final week.

As we saud before, today is really a day for the sprinters and it will be their last shot at victory for a few days. Nacer Bouhanni will certainly be one of the favourites after taking three stage wins already. He's only one of four Frenchmen to do so.

If he takes victory today, he will be the first Frenchman to win four stages since Bernard Hinault in 1982.

Hoping to end Bouhanni's dominance will be Elia Viviani, Luka Mezgec, Tyler Farar and Ben Swift. The final kilometre is not totally flat, which could give them an opportunity.

Earlier this week Ben Swift was nice enough to show us the bike he hopes can take him to his first Grand Tour stage win, his Pinarello Dogma 2. You can watch the video here. You can also subscribe here.

118km remaining from 157km

The peloton are keeping a close watch on these six riders out front the gap has come down a little bit to 1:45.

Yesterday was a proud day for Colombia, as Rigoberto Uran rode himself into pink. Many would have expected it to be Nairo Quintana, btu Urán becomes the first rider from the country to wear the maglia rosa. It was a proud moment for his mother too and this photo has been doing the rounds on twitter, as she watches her son step onto the podium.

Another rider who will be looking to beat Bouhanni today, he is only 24 points behind the Frenchman in the points classification. Here is how the top 10 looks in that competition.

1 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr 220 pts
2 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 196
3 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida 156
4 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale 151
5 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky 112
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 88
7 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 78
8 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 68
9 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 65
10 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 65

103km remaining from 157km

The peloton have been riding for just over an hour now and the six escapees still have a slim margin of 2:38.

The sprinters' teams seem pretty nervous about giving this group of leaders too much rope. Any time is grows they immediately shut it down. As they approach 100km to go, it's come down to 2:22.

Cadel Evans is back in his BMC jersey after spending some time in the maglia rosa. He was expected to put time into his rivals, but he actually lost time. The Australian admitted that he didn't go how he had hoped yesterday.

97km remaining from 157km

It is FDJ and Giant-Shimano controlling things on the front of the peloton, which is currently strung out because of the pace.

Edvald Boasson Hagen got to show off his Norwegian time trial jersey yesterday. We headed over to Sky to have a look at Boasson Hagen's time trial bike, you can watch that video here and you can subscribe to our YouTube channel here.

92km remaining from 157km

Maxim Belkov is looking very comfortable in this escape group. The Katusha rider won a stage of the Giro d'Italia last year. Although Carlos Betancur wasn't aware of it and suffered some embarrassment when he celebrated his second place. It's unlikely that Belkov will get a chance to win today.

88km remaining from 157km

As the peloton rolls through Pavarolo, the gap to the escapees is 2:36. We have around 22km until the intermediate sprint.

Outside of the Giro d'Italia, Sky rider jonathan Tiernan-Locke has finally spoken about his suspension. The Brit has denied that it was his choice to delay the hearing into his blood passport anomalies. You can read the full article here.

There is only one climb for the riders to take on today. It comes at kilometre 123. It's only short, but it does peak at 12%. Here is a reminder of the profile.

78km remaining from 157km

Giant-Shimano have taken up some of the work from FDJ. They're working for Luka Mezgec, who is the team's sprinter with Marcel Kittel out of the race.

If you want to catch up with any of our Giro d'Italia videos head to our YouTube channel here and subscribe if you want to be the first to see the latest videos after today's stage.

We are approaching the intermediate sprint for today. The escapees will take all the points there.

Vladimir Gusev goes down in the peloton. He managed to get his rain coat caught in his wheels as he was picking them up from the car. It is taking some time to get him going again, but now he can pick up the coats easily.

Gusev was picking the coats up because it's pretty grey out there and we're expecting rain before the finish.

The good news for Katusha is that Gusev looks ok. The team have already lost three riders early on. Their on the hunt for stage victories and have Belkov in the break today, but that's likely to come to nothing.

More rain jackets coming on now. Michele Scarponi is back with the car getting his. He is looking a little better that he has over the past few days. The Italian told the press that he was considering abandoning the Giro after yesterday's stage, but he's obviously been persuaded to continue for the moment.

57km remaining from 157km

As the peloton get them selves sorted, it has allowed the escapees to build on their advantage. It has gone up by over a minute and now stands at 3:32

Drops of rain have begun to fall, as FDJ amass on the front of the peloton. They let the gap go out a bit, but not for long.

The rain jackets causing a few problems. Thomas Dekker gets his caught in his back wheel, but the Dutchman manages to stay upright. He has to get off and change wheels, it looks like he damaged it.

Dekker can now see the back of the peloton, he didn't lose nearly as much time as Gusev did.

46km remaining from 157km

We can see Giant-Shimano on the front again and they seem happy to share the effort with FDK. The gap is beginning to come down, but reasonably slowly. It's now 3:17

Androni have managed to get a rider in the break today with Jackson Rodriguez. They're a constant feature in the escapes in every race they compete in. However, they missed out a couple of days ago on stage 11. Cadel Evans asked them to slow down when his teammate Steve Morabito crashed, but the Italian team refused. Their team manager Gianni Savio said that there was no question they would stop chasing, even under the instruction of the pink jersey.

Reports coming through that hailstones are falling up the road. That is not news that the riders will want to hear.

38km remaining from 157km

The gap is coming down a little quicker and has dropped back down below the 3 minute mark. It now stands at 2:42

We've got one Rodriguez in the break, there is another - Fred Rodriguez - who will be racing today. The American rider will be looking for his fourth US national title later on today. Taylor Phinney is also gunning for the TT title. You can read the full article on Rodriguez here.

Tomorrow we hit the first of the high mountains and the pink jersey will be up for grabs once again. Want to know what's in store for the riders? Then take a look at our preview of tomorrow's stage to Oropa and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

34km remaining from 157km

No hail over the riders yet, but here is how it looks with 30km to go.

Canola attacks. He's looking for some mountains classification points, but he's caught by Rodriguez.

33km remaining from 157km

There is no contest for the points at the top of the climb, but then again there are hardly any points available. Canola leads them over with Rodriguez in his wheel.

30km remaining from 157km

The peloton crest the climb 2:16 back on the six leaders.

Belkov is having a go at the Colombian rider Romero. He's been sitting on the back of the lead group for a little while now and the Katusha rider isn't too happy about it.

Sorry, made an error with the Fred Rodriguez story, it is actually his fifth championship that he is looking for. They will be taking place on Monday.

The peloton are picking their way through the hail on the road. The roads will be pretty slick now and they've knocked the pace off a little bit. There's been enough crashes during this Giro d'Italia.

Huge crowds at the finish. It's quite a tight and twisty final kilometre, and the riders will have to be careful if they don't want to get involved in a crash.

22km remaining from 157km

The gap is coming down pretty quickly and they are onto this finishing circuit. The leaders get the bell as they cross the finish line for the first time.

The peloton get the bell now, lead by FDJ, and they are 1:42 down on the six leaders.

The sprinters will have being paying a lot of attention going through the finish line there, perhaps picking the spot that they will make their sprint. There is a very tight right-hand bend within the final 500 metres. The winner of this stage will need to be on the front coming out of that.

Cannondale are now on the front of the peloton. They really want something from this race and Elia Viviani is their man for today.

16km remaining from 157km

Nacer Bouhanni has some words with the Omega Pharma-QuickStep team, he wants them to share some of the chasing. His FDJ team have done almost all of the work.

15km remaining from 157km

Rodriguez takes the points at the intermediate sprint with Canola and Tulik following him. They've only got a 1:30 advantage on the peloton now.

We'll have reaction from today's stage on our YouTube channel. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of it.

13km remaining from 157km

It looks like the gap is actually going back out, it's now 1:45. Garmin are on the front of the peloton now.

12km remaining from 157km

However, race radio says that the gap is actually 1:00 so we'll ignore the graphics telling us otherwise.

We've got a lot of teams coming to the front of the group. BMC, Tinkoff-Saco and QuickStep are all present.

The peloton has split in two as the pace is upped.

10km remaining from 157km

Bouhanni looks displeased. He's up the front of the peloton on his own at the moment. No FDJ riders to be seen.

8km remaining from 157km

No one team seem to be able to mount a proper challenge. The sprinters teams keep looking at each other, who will blink first and take up the chase? QuickStep on the front.

7km remaining from 157km

Three of the leaders have been caught, they are Dockx, Romero and Belkov. We've still got Canola, Tulik and Rodriguez out front.

We have three riders out front. Rubiano has been caught and Belkov and Dockx are about to be.

5km remaining from 157km

Could we see a surprise breakaway victory today? They've still got over a minute and the peloton are running out of road to catch them.

It looks like the peloton have got their act together. It's Sky and Giant-Shimano who are on the front and they've cut the gap down to 1:10

2km remaining from 157km

Canola attacks and Rodriguez follows. Tulik is briefly dropped and has t0 work hard to get back on.

2km remaining from 157km

The peloton are strung out into almost a single line, it's desperate times for them as they try to catch these leaders.

1km remaining from 157km

The efforts are paying off and they've cut it down to 1:00. Is it too little too late?

1km remaining from 157km

The leaders have stopped attacking each other. They need to keep this together until the final kilometre if they want to stay away.

1km remaining from 157km

Garmin-Sharp are on the front but the leaders are under the flamme rouge.

The leaders get their jerseys ready to celebrate, but the peloton can see them

Canola leads it out

Conalo wins

Nizzolo takes the sprint from the peloton

Canola lead that from the final corner, it looked like Rodriguez might take him on the line but the Italian managed to hold him off.

This is the 25-year-old's first Grand Tour victory and he's the second Italian to win at this year's Giro d'Italia.

Nacer Bouhanni won't be too fussed about missing the peloton sprint. He's still got the red jersey and he'll be safe in it for a few more days.

Here is the top 10 for that stage

1    Marco Canola (Ita) Bardiani-CSF  
2    Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Androni Giocattoli
3    Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar
4    Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr
5    Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
6    Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale
7    Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team Giant-Shimano
8    Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
9    Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin Sharp
10    Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team

And you can see that Bouhanni actually pipped Nizzolo, it was a photo finish between those two.

Today was supposed to be one for the sprinters, but there was so much indecision in the peloton that they breakaway was able to stay away. There's only one outright chance for the sprinters left on the final day, although stage 17 could be a small chance for them too.

Go to our video page for the reaction from the stage and more.

The general classification looks exactly the same as it did this morning with Rigoberto Uran leading the way in pink.

That is all from us today, we will be back tomorrow with coverage from the first high mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia.