Juanpe López kept the Maglia Rosa for one more day in a short stage, the thirteenth, of 150 kilometres, played in suffocating heat between San Remo and Cuneo and resolved in a sprint won by Frenchman Arnaud Démare, his third stage win in the Italian race.
The highlight of the day was the abandonment of one of the favorites for the podium, the Frenchman Romain Bardet. After falling ill during Thursday's stage, his condition worsened overnight and, despite all efforts, he was no longer able to continue in the race. The French cyclist was fourth in the general classification, 14 seconds behind Juan Pedro López and two seconds behind Richard Carapaz and Joao Almeida.
The excitement of the stage was to see if a breakaway of four cyclists who had just over four minutes ahead of the peloton reached the finish line.
As expected, the peloton hardened the pace in the last ten kilometers and the breakaways were gobbled up on the shore, shortly before the final sprint, 600 meters from the finish. In the final volata, the French rider from Groupama won against Phil Bauhaus and Mark Cavendish. López will go out with the Maglia Rosa one more day.
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