Jonathan Milan powerfully sprinted to victory on stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia, after surviving a tense time in the crosswinds.
The Lidl-Trek rider was among those distanced as the race threatened to be blown apart in the winds on Friday, but came back to win in Cento.
Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis) came second, with Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) in third. Milan's victory strengthened his lead in the points classification.
Meanwhile, there was no change in the general classification, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) keeping the pink jersey, 2:40 ahead of Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe).
The wind briefly tore up a calm day, with the peloton split into three pieces with about 60km to go. While all the big names on GC were in the front, Milan was among those distanced. Fortunately, he was there with most of his teammates.
"Let's say that it was a moment where I stopped, and these echelons happened," the sprinter said post-race. "The guys did an amazing job, like always. We pushed full gas to come back and catch the first group. Then we always stayed in the front, and they delivered me to the perfect position.
"We started this finish really well. We knew that we had to come in the last corner with Simone, and he had to start his leadout from 400m to go. We did it like this, it was impressive how the guys rode today, and how everyone did his part, how everyone pulled, how everyone pushed for this team goal.
"At the end when everyone is believing in all this, this is the end. I'm just super happy, super proud of the guys, of my team. Like always, I have to say thanks to them."
How it happened
There were just 202 metres of elevation in 179km on stage 13, so it looked certain to be a day for the sprinters in Emilia-Romagna.
Andrea Pietrobon (Polti Kometa), and Alessandro Tonelli and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) essentially attacked from the minute the flag dropped, and that set the tone of the day.
The trio built up a lead that hovered around two minutes for most of the day, as the peloton were content to let them off on a long leash.
The race was quiet until two hours in, when on a right-hand bend, Ineos Grenadiers put the pressure on through Tobias Foss, and their power caused a split in the bunch.
While those high up on GC like Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe), Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) were all at the front of the race, others were caught out.
Einer Rubio (Movistar), ninth on GC, and Domenico Pozzovivo (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) were both in the second half of the split, along with sprinters like Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek).
Lidl and Milan himself put a lot of effort into repair the breach in the peloton, and things came back together with 43km to go.
Things then were set up for a bunch sprint, despite a late attack from Martin Marcellusi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè) and Dries De Pooter (Intermarché-Wanty), which came to nothing.
The racing seemed tense inside the final 10km, as wide roads suddenly gave way to twisting city streets, but there were no major incidents.
Lidl-Trek delivered Jonathan Milan perfectly to open up his sprint. While Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) went first, he was easily overhauled, and Milan won for a third time at this Giro.
Results
Giro d'Italia 2024, stage 13: Riccione > Cento (179km)
1. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek, in 4:02:03
2. Stanisław Aniołkowski (Pol) Cofidis
3. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
4. Tim van Dijke (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
5. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel-Premier Tech
6. Fernando Gaviria (Col) Movistar
7. Juan Sebastián Molano (Col) UAE Team Emirates
8. Laurence Pithie (NZl) Groupama-FDJ
9. Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Polti Kometa
10. Alberto Dainese (Ita) Tudor, all at same time
General classification after stage 10
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 45:22:35
2. Daniel Martinez (Col) Bora-Hansgrohe, +2:40
3. Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers, +2:56
4. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, +3:39
5. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) bahrain Victorious, +4-27
6. Romain Bardet (Fra) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +4-57
7. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan, +5:19
8. Filippo Zana (Ita) Jayco-AIUla, +5:23
9. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, +5:28
10. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +5:52
