Giro d’Italia 2024 Stage 13 recap – Jonathan Milan survives crosswind chaos to take third win

A textbook lead-out and a classy kick from the Italian man-of-the-moment, whose main rivals were nowhere to be seen...

"Like always the guys did an amazing job. We really pushed full gas to come back to the first group and then we stayed in the first positions. They delivered me in a perfect position ahead of the sprint. Simone Consonni brought be to the last corner with 400m to go but it was amazing how everyone pushed together for this team goal. I’m super happy and super proud of the guys."

1. Jonathan Milan
2. Stanislaw Aniolkowski
3. Phil Bauhaus
4. Tim Van Dijk
5. Hugo Hofstetter
6. Fernando Gaviria
7. Juan Sebastian Molano
8. Laurence Pithie
9. Giovanni Lonardi
10. Alberto Dainese

As is his custom, Fernando Gaviria launched too far from the line and Milan was easily able to power past the Colombian to take the win. A great effort from Poland's Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Cofidis) to take second place ahead of Phil Bahaus (Bahrain Victorious).

But both Tim Merlier and Kaden Groves were nowhere to be seen and did not even make the top 10, ditto Caleb Ewan.

It's a hat-trick for Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) who is just unstoppable in this Giro. Even the crosswinds can't derail the maglia ciclamino and his team-mates.

Three men ahead of Jonathan Milan, but the maglia ciclamino is on the radio so perhaps he has an issue? Right, here we go... Movistar, Bahrain and Jayco there, but Alpecin and Soudal need to get moving.

It's pretty strung out after a series of tight turns and a serious bottleneck. Lidl-Trek have numbers, bbut so do Jayco-AlUla for Caleb Ewan - but the Aussie is way back and out of position. Bahrain in the mix, too.

It's passed the magic 3km marker so the GC riders can breathe a sigh of relief. But now it's time for the sprint trains to get seriously involved and Trek-Lidl are there for Milan.

It's a block peloton on the front with sprinters and GC men still riding in team formations. It's under the banner and the tempo then ramps up as UAE and Ineos open things up - for positions, but also (in the case of UAE) for Juan Sebastian Molano.

The last bidons are being throw to the side of the road as the peloton collectively prepares itself for the bunch sprint. For the first time we see three Tudor riders edge ahead - one of them Alberto Dainese, who may well have to ride the coattails of his rivals if he wants to push for a win.

Just a handful of seconds now for the Belgian Dries De Pooter as Lidl-Trek finally come to the front for their man Jonathan Milan. They had to battle back from the crosswind split but now they will be eyeing up a third win for their Italian stallion in purple.

Just 12 seconds now for the Belgian, who is already looking over his shoulder. Back in the pack, there's a slight shoulder-to-shoulder between Schachmann of Bora and one of the UAE riders as they jostle for positions ahead of the run-in.

Marcellusi has hit the wall which allows De Pooter to plough on clear on his own. The gap is under 20 seconds now and so he won't last too much longer.

Alpecin's entire team are on the front working for their Australian sprinter. Bahrain Victorious are also paving the way for Phil Bauhaus, ditto Groupama-FDJ for Laurence Pithie. We haven't seen much of Alberto Dainese and his Tudor team. He's notoriously good on these flat stages but he doesn't have much form to speak of.

Lots of riders have been caught out after a crash in the middle of the pack. Around half a dozen hit the deck but many more are involved - and that happened just as the hammer was going down. Domenico Pozzovivo and Einer Rubio didn't go down but they were both near the back after the earlier split and they will have another battle to limit their losses now.

The downside of putting Lidl-Trek under that crosswind pressure is that Milan's team are now refusing to help chase down this two-man counter move. Alpecin-Deceuninck and Soudal Quick-Step have combined on the front as we enter the final 20km with Marcellusi and De Pooter still holding a gap of 30 seconds.

Soudal Quick-Step want to set Tim Merlier up for the sprint so they are doing the lion's share here with a little help from Ineos Grenadiers, oddly. The gap of that duo is up to 30 seconds and so the pace has gone back up again.

It's Martin Marcellusi of Bardiani CSF who takes advantage of this post-crosswind lull to zip off the front. He's joined by Belgian debutant Dries De Pooter (Intermarche-Wanty) and the duo open up a small gap.

Momentary calm as the dropped group manages to rejoin the peloton ahead of the endgame of today's stage. Will we see any more counter moves or splits - or will the sprint trains take this up from now on and deliver their men to a sprint royale?