Great Britain’s Simon Yates still has a 47-second lead in the Giro d’Italia’s general classification after the 13th stage, which was won by Elia Viviani.
Italian Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) emerged victorious from a bunch sprint at the end of the flat, 180-kilometre run from Ferrara to Nervesa della Battaglia on Friday for his third stage triumph of this year’s race.
Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), who on Thursday registered his second victory of the race to become the first Irishman to win two or more stages in the same grand tour event since 1988, was second behind Viviani, with Dutch rider Danny Van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo) coming third.
Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and his closest rival in the general classification, Belgium’s defending champion Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), both finished safely within the bunch with the same time.
Viviani, bouncing back after a disappointing Thursday as he added to winning stages two and three, is now 40 points clear of second-placed Bennett in the points classification.
Saturday sees the riders tackle a tough mountain stage, the 186km from San Vito al Tagliamento to Monte Zoncolan.
🇮🇹 @eliaviviani wins the stage in Nervesa della Battaglia! 🚴🚴🚴
What a sprint! 😍
🥈 @Sammmy_Be
🥉 @Dannyvanpoppel #Giro #Giro101 @giroditalia pic.twitter.com/zuZkSyFpDm— Unibet Belgium (@unibetbelgium) May 18, 2018
