Stage 13

The road

At the start

Wiggins and Hesjedal go home

Three of the biggest names in the race do not sign on this morning: Bradley Wiggins, dropped again in the rain yesterday, Ryder Hesjedal, who lost his Giro on Fiesole, and Nacer Bouhanni. Nibali leads Evans by forty-one seconds and Urán by 2:04. What is left is the longest stage of the race, two hundred and fifty-eight kilometres to Cherasco with one climb in it.

How it was won

1. 137 km to go

   Three strong men on the Tre Cuni

   Thirteen minutes at its height, and under one by the day's only categorised climb. On it the seven becomes three: Boem, Bak and Lastras go clear with eighteen seconds at the summit, and Omega Pharma are content to let that breathe a little.

2. 26 km to go

   Caruso slips away at six to go

   Astana take over as Omega Pharma wilt, riders spill off the front in ones and twos, and on the last little rise Giampaolo Caruso gets a gap. Cannondale have to chase him down knowing exactly whose sprint it hands the stage to.

3. 3At the line

   Cherasco, through a gap

   Seven riders back and boxed in with five hundred metres left, Cavendish sees daylight on his right and takes it at three hundred and fifty. He opens half a dozen metres, and then has to fight the whole way to the line as Nizzolo comes past on his left — fractionally too late.

The result