Giro d’Italia Stage 13 Race Report: Mads Pedersen won the thirteenth stage, his fourth stage victory in the 2025 Giro d’Italia. The Dane beat Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) in a thrilling sprint on a stiff uphill finish in Vicenza. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG) finished third and held onto his overall lead in the general classification.
Stage 13 finish
This is a stage for the real puncheurs. From the Veneto region, the route is flat again and the sprinters get another opportunity, two days in a row. Only after the first passage of the finish, the terrain becomes a bit more harder. The climb of Monte Berico comes first and then on the local circuit, the Arcugnano climb is also difficult. A very Liège-Bastogne-Liège style.
The Monte Berico (1.1km at 7.5%) has an average gradient of 7.5% over a kilometre, ideal for a real puncheur in Vicenza. Philippe Gilbert caught the escapees at the finish of stage 12 for the win in 2015.
Another day in pink for Isaac Del Torro
There were attacks immediately after the start flag dropped. Quinten Hermans, with others, tried, but couldn’t get away. The next attempt was successful. A group of nine riders, including: Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Fran Miholjevič (Bahrain Victorious), Lorenzo Milesi & Sven Erik Bystrøm (Groupama-FDJ), Chris Hamilton (Picnic PostNL), Mattias Bais (Polti VisitMalta) and Filippo Magli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).
Time for a laugh for the British riders: Ben Turner, Joshua Tarling and Tom Pidcock
The peloton saw that this was a strong group and they immediately started riding hard. Visma | Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek and Q36.5 combined to keep the ‘break of the day’ close. The escapees only managed to gain a maximum 2 minute lead. The average speed of 49kph in the first hour, showed that both the break and the peloton were riding hard.
Wine country
After the first hour, the speed stayed the same and the race was still flying when the peloton started the hilly section. This was 50 kilometres from the finish, at the foot of the San Giovanni in Monte (5km at 6.6%). Nearly all of the early break was caught by the peloton, except Germani. INEOS Grenadiers had been riding hard at the front of the peloton for the last few kilometres, and carried on that pace on the climb.
Chris Hamilton in the break
The peloton split into different groups, with only 10 riders in the first group. A number of GC riders, including the pink jersey Juan Ayuso, were missing, but calm returned before the top of the climb. After Ben Turner’s fast turn on the front, there was a moment of hesitation, and things came back together. Thymen Arensman came to the front, but not for long.
The peloton didn’t let the break get too far away
There was a lot of action for a few kilometres, but then the pace slowed down. This allowed quite a few riders to rejoin, including Mads Pedersen and, later, Wout van Aert. Germani was still off the front, and was joined by Christian Scaroni after the climb. The two Italians got together in the valley and extended their lead on the peloton.
The break was soon to split
Lidl-Trek and Q36.5 started to pull the race together. They set the pace and kept the leaders within catching distance. At 20 kilometres they came over the first passage of the finish line and the Monte Berico (800m at 7.6%). The peloton rode up the climb at a steady pace. After the summit, UAE Emirates XRG took the lead. The team of overall leader, Isaac Del Toro, caught Germani 11 kilometres from the finish.
A lap of Vicenza to go
Scaroni survived for a while and he was first at the intermediate sprint for bonus seconds. Ayuso was second and took 4 seconds, Del Toro 2 seconds. On the descent after that intermediate sprint, the pace dropped again and Romain Bardet attacked at just the right moment. The Frenchman had Mathias Vacek with him for a strong pair of escapees.
The peloton was ready for the final rush to the line
UAE Emirates XRG were riding at the front of the peloton, but that was more controlling than chasing. Visma | Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck took over, but with 5 kilometres to go Bardet and Vacek still had a 15 second lead. Bart Lemmen, Wilco Kelderman and Timo Kielich went into full chase mode, but didn’t seem to get much closer.
Edward Planckaert set a fast pace in the last metres for Isaac Del Toro and Wout van Aert
Bardet and Vacek started the last kilometre on the climb of Monte Berico with a very small lead, behind them there was an exciting final kilometre. The leading duo couldn’t hold out, because Alpecin-Deceuninck closed the gap for Kaden Groves. There was a problem as the Australian himself lost his place in the last few hundred metres. Then there was a battle between Pedersen, Van Aert and Del Toro.
It was Mads Pedersen who flew out of the bunch with Van Aert on his wheel
That battle of those three turned into a duel between Pedersen and Van Aert. The Dane was the first to start his sprint, but Van Aert pulled himself back to his rear wheel. It looked like Van Aert had the power to pass Pedersen, but the Belgian fell short just before the finish. After that thrilling sprint, Pedersen crossed the line first to take his fourth stage win in this Giro. Van Aert was second and Del Toro third. The Mexican remains the overall leader with a few more seconds added.
Could Van Aert come past?
Stage winner and points leader, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek): “What an incredible Giro this is! Timing my effort was dictated by instinct. I had to open up on the right side close to the barriers. So I went a bit earlier than I wanted to. On such a hard day and a final like this, everyone has burning legs in the finale. It was definitely nice to have seen it before. We first tried to win the stage with Mathias Vacek. He deserves to get his chance too. If there was an hesitation in the peloton, Romain Bardet and him would have had the possibility to win. It was ideal. I could sit behind and let other teams work. I’m happy with this win and adding another 50 points for the Maglia Ciclamino. I’m overwhelmed with winning again.”
The Dane held off Van Aert for his fourth 2025 Giro d’Italia stage win
Overall leader and 3rd on the stage, Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates XRG): “I didn’t have the sprint in the legs today. Mads and Wout came really fast and I tried to follow but I didn’t have the legs, so Chapeau to them. The plan today was to stay calm, follow the key rivals, and defend the jersey—and we executed that perfectly,I had decent legs, but also importantly, I had great support from my teammates. It’s a special feeling to wear this jersey, and we’ll keep fighting every day to honour it in the team.”
Pedersen couldn’t celebrate until well after the line
# Stay PEZ for all the Giro news in EUROTRASH Monday and Thursday. #
Giro d’Italia Stage 13 Result:
1. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek in 3:50:24
2. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma | Lease a Bike
3. Isaac Del Toro Romero (Mex) UAE Emirates XRG at 0:02
4. Remy Rochas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at 0:05
5. Dorian Godon (Fra) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
6. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
7. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
8. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech
9. Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria (Ven) Movistar
10. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) INEOS Grenadiers.
Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 13:
1. Isaac Del Toro Romero (Mex) UAE Emirates XRG in 46:32:59
2. Juan Ayuso Pesquera (Spa) UAE Emirates XRG at 0:38
3. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious at 1:18
4. Simon Yates (GB) Visma | Lease a Bike at 1:20
5. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 1:35
6. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost at 2:07
7. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek at 2:20
8. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Emirates XRG at 2:40
9. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) INEOS Grenadiers at 2:50
10. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech at 2:54.
Like PEZ? Why not subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive updates and reminders on what’s cool in road cycling?
