Mark Cavendish claimed his third win of this year's Giro d'Italia with a dominant triumph on stage 13.
World champion rounds off strong team display
Mark Cavendish claimed his third win of this year's Giro d'Italia with a dominant triumph on stage 13.
His Team Sky team-mates had been prominent for much of the short 121 kilometres stage from Savona and were on the front when it mattered coming into the finish in Cervere.
They took it up from Saxo Bank with 1.5km to go on the long finishing straight, though Orica-GreenEDGE burst to the head of affairs inside the final 400m as they looked to tee up Matthew Goss.
But Cavendish kept his nerve superbly, first latching onto the wheel of Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Barracuda) and then briefly checking his sprint until the gap came.
When it did the response was instant as the world champion accelerated up the inside and quickly settled it, crossing the line more than a bike length in front of Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), with Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) in third.
The victory, his 10th individual stage at the Giro, extended his lead in the points classification race. He now has 106 points, to Goss' 75.
"I’m really, really happy and it’s nice to finally get another win," said Cavendish, who also won stages two and five but was taken out in a big crash when having every chance at the end of the third stage.
Perfect timing
"The guys went out and just rode their hearts out again today and I’m so, so proud. After they did that I had to win; I had to find some gap to get through.
"It was just a question of waiting for that moment and then taking my chance. It was a headwind finish which probably played into my hands a little bit after leaving it late."
Reflecting on the heavy crash on the third stage just before the race transferred from Denmark to Italy, he added: "I’m feeling better again every day. I came into the Giro in really good form and ideally I’d have liked to have been able to kind of relax through the first week but the crash changed all that.
"It took me a week to really fully recover and get my legs back again. The guys are really looking after me though; they are keeping me protected throughout the stages which is perfect and I want to go to Milan and win the points jersey."
With the bunch all finishing together it means the overall standings are unchanged, Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) leading the way by 17 seconds from Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda).
Team Sky pair Rigoberto Urán and Sergio Henao remain 12th and 15th respectively, 1:10 and 1:27 adrift.
Heading to the hills
The focus now switches sharply to the mountains for much of the remainder of the race, starting with Saturday's 206km test in the Alps from Cherasco to Cervinia.
Climbing had been the order of the day early on in Friday's route, with the first 30km almost all uphill.
Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Francesco Failli (Farnese Vini) broke clear of the pack inside the first 2km and were allowed to build up a lead of 5:36.
However they were always kept well within range and by the time of the intermediate sprint with 38km remaining, which saw Cavendish pick up more points in third, their advantage was less than a minute.
The catch came just before the 20km to go banner as the sprinters' teams began to mass on the front, FDJ-BigMat having been to the fore for a long way with Team Sky, while Garmin-Barracuda, Orica-GreenEDGE, Rabobank and Saxo Bank also started to show their hand.
It all set up an absorbing sprint finish, with Goss getting first run before Cavendish asserted himself in the final 100 metres.
