Pedersen also wins in the uphill. He adds 4 victories and gives Lidl-Trek their fifth stage win in this Giro d'Italia

Imperial Mads Pedersen, who has shown the impressive form he boasts by beating all the favorites for the general classification in a finish on a wall, totally unfavorable for his conditions and against a Wout van Aert who is starting to show good legs heading into the last week of the Giro d'Italia.

Poker of victories in the Giro d'Italia for an unbeatable Mads Pedersen

A good day to look back and remember that World Championship in Yorkshire in 2019, held under a tremendous and constant downpour and in which, unexpectedly, a young Mads Pedersen took the rainbow jersey. Many criticized the Dane at the time for not being a worthy bearer of that title, for finding victory and many other nonsense. However, over time, Mads Pedersen has been proven right, as in this Giro d'Italia, after the disappointment of the puncture in the Paris-Roubaix when he was seen with legs that could have fought toe to toe with Pogacar and Van der Poel, he has found what may be the best form of his life.

A cyclist that most of us still see as a pure sprinter but who, in the thirteenth stage of this Giro d'Italia, has shown that the process of evolving into a classics rider is underway after his spectacular victory on the wall that culminated in Monte Berico overlooking the city of Vicenza, the finish line of the stage.

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A 180-kilometer stage that connected Rovigo and Vicenza through the lands of Beneto with a completely flat first part, barely punctuated by the Passo Roverello, a 4th category climb where, after a very fast start, the breakaway of the day was already formed, including 9 cyclists with Mozzato, De Bondt, Milesi, or Bais as the most prominent names.

Once again, the peloton did not allow their advantage to be too wide, this time, led for most of the time by a Visma-Lease a Bike team that made it seem like Wout van Aert had the legs and confidence to go for the victory on this day of the Giro d'Italia.

The race proceeded calmly until the last third of the route when the stage entered terrain more typical of the classics. First with a small uncategorized climb and the second climb of the day, San Giovanni in Monte. After this, 20 completely flat kilometers until reaching Vicenza and facing a small circuit with a double pass through Monte Berico and, in between, the Red Bull KM also located on an ascent: Arcugnano.

At the first part of the climb, Ayuso entered poorly positioned at the uncategorized ramp and the INEOS Grenadiers riders who saw him prepared for a moment of entrapment. The pace accelerated to infinity and the peloton split into a thousand pieces with a front group where all the favorites were except for the rider from Alicante. However, when Brandon Rivera moved aside, no cyclist continued the move. Only Derek Gee and Tom Pidcock did so very timidly, so Juan Ayuso managed to gradually enter after McNulty took the lead and changed the dynamics.

Calmness followed that point, which Scaroni and Germani took advantage of to make their way and try to surprise. However, so many kilometers of flat terrain took their toll and, although they passed the first pass at Monte Berico, the approach to the Red Bull KM made an ambitious UAE Team Emirates-XRG team once again lead the peloton as if it were a sprint finish to catch the bonuses. They did not manage to catch Scaroni, who crossed the line first, but a few meters behind, it was curious to see Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro compete for those few seconds as if their lives depended on it. A mini-victory that this time fell on the side of Juan Ayuso.

The pace slowed after this point and a determined Mathias Vacek took advantage to go for the stage victory with Romain Bardet who saw the move and held onto the wheel of the Lidl-Trek rider. The Czech rider was like a locomotive that even a rider of Romain Bardet's caliber could not pass. However, the push from the peloton led to them being caught at the start of the final climb to Monte Berico, within the last kilometer.

Meters of vigilance among all the favorites, tension to see who would be the first to launch the sprint when, unexpectedly, a strong Mads Pedersen recovered positions, glued to the barriers where there was barely any room to pass. Wout van Aert saw the move and held onto his wheel, as did Isaac del Toro.

But the Mexican was unable to withstand that tremendous power output and a small gap opened up. Wout van Aert resisted, whose form is growing, even trying to come out of the slipstream and make a move, although his good legs were unable to catch an unbeatable Mads Pedersen who claimed his fourth victory in this Giro d'Italia 2025 and has the cyclamen jersey completely secured in his favor.

Meanwhile, Isaac del Toro gained a few more seconds to add to the bonus for third place in the stage and continues to strengthen his candidacy for the final victory in the Giro d'Italia as the mountain that will decide the winner of this Corsa Rosa looms on the horizon.

Stage 13 Classification

1. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 3h50'24''
2. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) +00''
3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +02''
4. Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ) +05''
5. Dorian Godon (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +05''
6. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +05''
7. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +05''
8. Derek Gee (Israel-PremierTech) +05''
9. Orluis Aular (Movistar) +05''
10. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +05''

General Classification

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 46h32'59''
2. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +38''
3. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +1'18''
4. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1'20''
5. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +1'35''
6. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +2'07''
7. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +2'20''
8. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2'40''
9. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +2'50''
10. Derek Gee (Israel-PremierTech) +2'54''