May 22, 2026
Stage 13 from Alessandria to Verbania is either set up to be a slow meander through the plains of the Piedmont or a rip roaring fight for the break that could last up to 100 km. The riders will ride almost the entire 189 km in a Northerly direction on flat roads. There are two or three minor blips on the profile in the first 30 km but overall, the first 165 km are flat. With the finish in Verbania on the banks of Lago Maggiore, the organizers could have had a completely flat run-in for a bunch sprint but they elected to go another route. They snuck in two climbs in the last 24 km which will make the tactics for the entire day much more complicated. The first of the climbs rises to Bieno for 2.4 km at 5.8%. There is very little time before the start of the Ungiasca, a 4.7 km climb at 7%. The Redbull Sprint is at the base and when the riders reach the last 2 km, they will have to contend with gradients pushing 10%. At the top, there is a plunge into Cambiasca and flat 7.5 km to the finish in front of the scenic spot of Lungolago di Pallanza. The last climbs might not be hard enough to tease out the GC riders but certainly too hard for the sprinters so we could be up for another chaotic fight to be the break.
Race Summary
The riders were blessed with late Spring conditions as the sun warmed up the region to 29C (84F). After about 5 km of racing, a group of seven got a gap. The group included Vicente Rojas of Bardiani CSF 7 Saber, Michael Valgren of EF-Education EasyPost, Larry Warbasse of Tudor Pro Cycling, Johan Jacobs of Groupama-FDJ United, Mark Donovan of Pinarello Q36.5, Diego Pablo Sevilla of Polti-VisitMalta, and Andreas Leknessund of Uno-X Mobility. Netcompany-Ineos and Soudal Quickstep were keen to make it in the move and the attacking continued. With 170 km to go, a chase group formed with Alberto Bettiol of XDS-Astana, Jasper Stuyven of Soudal Quickstep, Mirco Maestri of Polti-VisitMalta, Mikkel Bjerg of UAE-XRG, and Francesco Busatto of Alpecin-Premier Tech. Slowly but surely, the attacking calmed down as the front two groups inched their way further and further up the road. Four more riders got away before the peloton blocked the road to mark the end of the first phase of the race.
The Stuyven group joined the front of the race with 146 km to go to make a group of eleven after Rojas was dropped out of the lead group early on. The last group of four riders contained Joshua Kench and Axel Huens of Groupama-FDJ United, Toon Aerts of Lotto Intermarché, and Markus Hoelgaard of Uno-X Mobility. They were closing at 25 seconds with 142 km to go with NSN Cycling setting up a chase in the peloton at 3 minutes 25 seconds. Eleven became fifteen with 136 km to go and NSN Cycling made the call to stop their chase and the probability of the break contesting for the win rose to near 100%.
Bahrain Victorious took the lead in the peloton 8 minutes behind the break as they passed the vast rice paddies with 110 km remaining. The race continued on in a holding pattern through the packed towns of Castellazzo Novarese, Fontaneto d'Agogna, and Borgomanero all celebrating the passage of the Giro.
The break took on a short downhill and reached the majestic shoreline of Lago Maggiore with 49 km remaining. They continued to roll turns through the intermediate sprint in Stresa with 33 km remaining with no sign of anyone sitting on. Bjerg was the first to plant himself on the back but it do not disrupt the group who came to the base of Bieno with 23.5 km to go all together. Groupama-FDJ United set the pace to keep the group in check for Kench who was the designated leader for the French squad. The group was cagey as each person was waiting to see what the others would do. All fifteen riders went over the top with 20 km to go and the waiting continued.
Groupama-FDJ United went harder on the climb to Ungiasca and put the group into single file. Huens emptied the tank and, when he finally pulled off 2.5 km from the top, only seven riders were still connected to the group. Kench immediately accelerated and only Bettiol, Valgren, and Leknessund could stand the pace. Kench looked around 500 meters later and the group briefly stalled. When the gradients reached 8% at 1,500 meters from the top, Leknessund turned the screw and started to distance the others. Bettiol settled into his rhythm and slowly clawed the Norwegian back. Bettiol reached the back wheel of Leknessund 100 meters from the top but wasted no time. He hit the gas and punched over the crest of Ungiasca with no reaction from Leknessund. 10 seconds separated Bettiol and Leknessund when the Norwegian Champion reached the KOM line but the momentum was clearly in Bettiol's favor.
Bettiol extended his lead to 19 seconds through Cambiasca with 8 km remaining and was able to time trial his way back down to the lake with a comfortable margin. The former Italian Champion celebrated for the last 200 meters and crossed the line to take his second career stage at the Giro and XDS-Astana's third in this edition. Everyone in the race organization seemed delighted with the result of such a winner in a beautiful and famous setting like Verbania. Leknessund came home 26 seconds later for another second place at this Giro with Stuyven winning the sprint for third from Valgren, Donovan, and then Kench. The peloton came in 13 minutes down in what was a veritable rest day ahead of a brutal day of climbing tomorrow in the Val d'Aosta.