Pedersen holds off Van Aert to take fourth Giro stage win

As Isaac del Toro extended his overall lead in the general classification, Mads Pedersen defeated Wout van Aert to win his fourth stage victory of the Giro d’Italia.

Vers the end of stage 13, Pedersen held on to a slender advantage over Belgian Van Aert, who came second, followed by Mexico’s Del Toro in a long uphill sprint.

On such a challenging uphill final, sometimes it’s okay to go early because everyone has burning legs for the final 100 meters, said Denmark’s Pedersen.

Let’s see how it turns out, “so I’m just happy with this one and adding another 50 points to the [cyclomino]sprint jersey.”

Two victories from Tadej Pogacar’s six stage victories in 2024 are still to be won by Pederson.

Del Toro’s advantage was increased by earning a four-second bonus for the stage finish in addition to the two seconds he had saved in the intermediate sprint.

In the general classification race, Antonio Tiberi from Italy is now 38 seconds clear of his team-mate Juan Ayuso, who is also 40 seconds adrift.

Simon Yates, a Brite, is in fourth place as he tries to win his first Grand Tour title since 2018’s Vuelta a Espana crown.

1. Made Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) for 3hrs, 50 minutes, and 24 seconds.

2. Same time as Van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike)

3. Emirates-XRG (Mex/UAE Team) Isaac del Toro + 2 seconds

4. Remy Rochas (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) + 5 secs

5. Same time as Daniel Godon (Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).

6. “Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)”

7. Antonio Tiberi (Ita/Bahrain Victorious)

8. “Can/Israel Premier Tech” Derek Gee

9. Orluis Aular (Ven/Movistar)

1. Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 46 hrs 32 mins 59 secs

2. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) + 38 seconds

3. Antonio Tiberi (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) + 1 minute, 18 seconds

4. Simon Yates (GB/Visma-Lease a Bike) + 1 minute 20 seconds

5. 1min 35secsPrimoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) + 1min 35secs

6. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) + 2 minutes, 07 seconds

7. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) + 2 minutes, 20 secs

8. Emirates-XRG US/UAE Team Brandon McNulty + 2 minutes, 40 seconds

9. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) + 2 minutes, 50 seconds