Stage 13

The road

At the start

Urán in pink at the foot of the Alps

Rigoberto Urán rode the time trial of his life through the Barolo hills and took the maglia rosa off Cadel Evans, who is 37 seconds down; Rafał Majka sits at 1:52, Nairo Quintana already 3:29 adrift. Today is a short, flat 159 kilometres to Rivarolo Canavese with one lump at Rivara — a transition to the foot of the Alps, and one of the last chances the sprinters get. Nacer Bouhanni has won three of them.

How it was won

1. 130 km to go

   Hail drifts on the road

   A hailstorm sweeps the route thirty kilometres from the line and leaves what look like snow drifts piled at the roadside. The commissaires slow the peloton through it and everyone comes out the other side upright.

2. 210 km to go

   Nobody wants to lead out Bouhanni

   Inside the last ten kilometres the sprinters' teams start calling each other's bluff — nobody is willing to work for another Bouhanni win — and the three leaders quietly stretch their advantage.

3. 34 km to go

   Canola jumps at 3.5km

   Marco Canola attacks the remains of the break, Jackson Rodríguez glued to him and Tulik scrambling across, while Garmin finally organise a chase far too late.

4. 4At the line

   Eleven seconds of daylight

   The trio eye each other until the peloton looms furiously into view with 700 metres left. Canola leads through the last corner, Rodríguez comes past just before the line — and the Bardiani rider throws it back to win by a whisker, 11 seconds ahead of the bunch.

The result