The 2013 Giro d'Italia was the 96th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Naples and finished in Brescia. Vincenzo Nibali of team Astana won the general classification.
Teams
As a UCI World Tour race, the Giro was obliged to invite all teams in the UCI's top division—the ProTour teams—and these teams were obliged to take part. At the beginning of the season, there were, as in recent years, 18 ProTour teams, and the race organisers issued four wildcard invitations to fill the usual quota of 22 teams for the event. However, successfully appealed against its loss of ProTour status to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the UCI decided against demoting any of the other teams; meaning that 23 teams took part in the Giro, as happened under a special dispensation in 2011. The participating teams were:
*: Pro Continental teams given wild card entry to this event.
Pre-race favourites 2012 Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal, Bradley Wiggins, winner of the 2012 Tour de France, and Vincenzo Nibali were among the favourites for overall victory. Other possible contenders included Michele Scarponi, Cadel Evans, Robert Gesink and Samuel Sánchez.
Route and stages
On 30 September 2012 the complete route was announced in Milan. For the first time since 2008, the first stages of the race (eight in total) took place in the south of Italy. The island of Ischia also hosted a stage for the first time in 54 years.
In 2013, the race paid tribute to the victims of the Vajont Dam disaster of 1963, but also to composer Giuseppe Verdi in stage 13 and to famous cyclist and triple Giro winner Gino Bartali in stage 9. There was speculation before the race that some sections of the route may also be relevant for contenders of the world championships in Florence.
In a revocation of a rule change in the 2012 race, all mass-start stages again awarded time bonuses to the first three riders, 20, 12, and 8 seconds respectively. In 2012, stages classified high-mountain did not award time bonuses. This Giro was also the first to feature two intermediate sprints per road stage, rather than only one. These sprints awarded points to the points classification and bonus seconds in the general classification.
+List of stagesStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner14 May Naples Flat stage 25 May Ischia to Forio Team time trial 36 May Sorrento to Marina di Ascea Medium-mountain stage 47 May Policastro Bussentino to Serra San Bruno Medium-mountain stage 58 May Cosenza to Matera Flat stage 69 May Mola di Bari to Margherita di Savoia Flat stage 710 May San Salvo to Pescara Medium-mountain stage 811 May Gabicce Mare to Saltara Individual time trial 912 May Sansepolcro to Florence Medium-mountain stage 13 May Rest day1014 May Cordenons to Altopiano del Montasio Mountain stage 1115 May Cave del Predil to Erto e Casso Medium-mountain stage 1216 May Longarone to Treviso Flat stage1317 May Busseto to Cherasco Flat stage 1418 May Cervere to Bardonecchia Mountain stage 1519 May Cesana Torinese to Col du Galibier Valloire Mountain stage 20 May Rest day1621 May Valloire to Ivrea Medium-mountain stage 1722 May Caravaggio to Vicenza Flat stage 1823 May Mori to Pölsa Individual time trial 1924 May Ponte di Legno to Martell Mountain stage Stage cancelled2025 May Schlanders to Tre Cime di Lavaredo Mountain stage 2126 May Riese Pio X to Brescia Flat stage
Race overview
The 2013 Giro d'Italia featured cold and wet weather, leading Bicycling magazine to call it "one of the more grueling Grand Tours in recent memory." During the first week of the race it looked like it may be a close contest that came down to the final stages. On the eighth stage, a time trial, Vincenzo Nibali took over the pink jersey (given to the overall leader). Early departures by contenders Ryder Hesjedal and Bradley Wiggins took much of the drama out of the race. By the final stages, all Nibali had to do was remain upright to claim victory. ESPN's Andrew Hood described his performance as "three nearly perfect weeks of racing." "Nibali revealed he is a complete rider, handling the stresses and demands of racing both on and off the bike," wrote Hood. Nibali called winning the Giro "a dream" and said it was unlikely he would compete in the Tour de France. It was the first time an Italian won the race outright since 2010.
Others with strong performance in the Giro d'Italia included Carlos Betancur, Mark Cavendish, Cadel Evans, and Rigoberto Urán. Riding in his first grand-tour event, 23-year-old Betancur finished fifth overall and won the best young rider's jersey. He had two second places on stages during the race. "I won my Giro", he said. Cavendish won five stages – all bunch sprints – and the points jersey. He became the fifth rider to win the points jersey at all three grand-tour races. Evans was written off by many commentators following a poor 2012 season, but bounced back with a third-place finish at the Giro. In so doing, he became the oldest rider to reach the podium since 1928. "I wasn't even planning on racing this Giro until a few weeks before it started, so to be [third] isn't so bad," he said. Urán won the tenth stage, and took second overall. His second-place finish came despite his loss of 1:30 on stage seven when he waited for teammate Bradley Wiggins to catch up to him. It was the best finish by Colombian rider since 1995.
Classification leadership In the 2013 Giro d'Italia, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages, the leader received a pink jersey. This classification is considered the most important of the Giro d'Italia, and the winner is considered the winner of the Giro.
Additionally, there was a points classification, awarding a red jersey. In the points classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. Unlike in the better known points classification in the Tour de France, the type of stage has no effect on what points were on offer – each stage had the same points available on the same scale. The winner earned 25 points, second place earned 20 points, third 16, fourth 14, fifth 12, sixth 10, and one point fewer per place down to a single point for 15th. In addition, points could be won in intermediate sprints.
There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a blue jersey. In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists. Each climb was categorized as either first, second, third, or fourth-category, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. The Cima Coppi, the race's highest point of elevation, was worth still more points than the other first-category climbs. Initially, the Cima Coppi was scheduled to be awarded at the top of the Passo dello Stelvio but, after the cancellation of the stage containing the climb, the Cima Coppi for the 2013 Giro d'Italia was the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, at .
The fourth jersey represents the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1988 were eligible.
There were also two classifications for teams. In the Trofeo Fast Team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time; the Trofeo Super Team was a team points classification, with the top 20 placed riders on each stage earning points (20 for first place, 19 for second place and so on, down to a single point for 20th) for their team.
The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run. In a break with the practice of recent years, defending Giro champion Ryder Hesjedal wore the pink jersey during the first stage.
Stage WinnerGeneral classificationPoints classificationMountains classificationYoung rider classificationTrofeo Fast TeamTrofeo Super Team 1 Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish Giovanni Visconti Elia Viviani 2 Salvatore Puccio Salvatore Puccio 3 Luca Paolini Luca Paolini Luca Paolini Willem Wauters Fabio Aru 4 Enrico Battaglin Giovanni Visconti 5 John Degenkolb 6 Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish 7 Adam Hansen Beñat Intxausti Rafał Majka 8 Alex Dowsett Vincenzo Nibali Wilco Kelderman 9Maxim Belkov Cadel Evans Stefano Pirazzi 10 Rigoberto Urán Rafał Majka 11 Ramūnas Navardauskas 12 Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish 13 Mark Cavendish 14 Mauro SantambrogioVincenzo Nibali 15 Giovanni Visconti Carlos Betancur 16 Beñat Intxausti 17 Giovanni Visconti 18 Vincenzo Nibali Rafał Majka 19 Stage cancelled 20Vincenzo Nibali Vincenzo Nibali Carlos Betancur 21 Mark Cavendish Mark Cavendish Final Vincenzo Nibali Mark Cavendish Stefano Pirazzi Carlos Betancur
Notes In stage 2, Nacer Bouhanni, who was third in the points classification, wore the red jersey, because Mark Cavendish (in first place) wore the pink jersey as leader of the general classification and Elia Viviani, who was second wore the white jersey as leader of the young rider classification. In stage 3, Alex Dowsett, who was second in the young rider classification, wore the white jersey, because Salvatore Puccio (in first place) wore the pink jersey as leader of the general classification during that stage. In stage 4, Mark Cavendish, who was second in the points classification, wore the red jersey, because Luca Paolini (in first place) wore the pink jersey as leader of the general classification during that stage. Also, Cadel Evans and John Degenkolb wore the red jersey for the same reason in stages 5, and 6, respectively. Cavendish also wore the red jersey in stage 21, despite being in second place, because Vincenzo Nibali (in first place) wore the pink jersey.
Final standings
Legend Denotes the leader of the General classification Denotes the leader of the Mountains classification Denotes the leader of the Points classification Denotes the leader of the Young rider classification
General classification RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 4' 43" 3 + 5' 52" 4 + 6' 48" 5 + 7' 28" 6 + 7' 43" 7 + 8' 09" 8 + 10' 26" 9 + 10' 32" 10 + 10' 59"
Points classification RiderTeamPoints 1 158 2 128 3 111 4 108 5 105 6 102 7 89 8 88 9 75 10 65
Mountains classification RiderTeamPoints 1 82 2 45 3 45 4 41 5 37 6 31 7 26 8 18 9 17 10 14
Young riders classification RiderTeamTime1 2 + 41"3 + 12' 50"4 + 21' 28"5 + 32' 55"6 + 1h 17' 25"7 + 1h 23' 31"8 + 1h 28' 09"9 + 1h 35' 26"10 + 2h 04' 36"
Trofeo Fast Team classification TeamTime1 254h 34′ 25″2 + 4' 29"3 + 7' 27"4 + 10' 35"5 + 15' 58"6 + 24' 59"7 + 39' 16"8 + 55' 42"9 + 1h 03' 24"10 + 1h 08' 43"
Trofeo Super Team classification TeamPoints1 2812 2763 2734 2685 2656 2327 1968 1959 19410 181
Minor classifications Other less well-known classifications, whose leaders did not receive a special jersey, were awarded during the Giro. These awards were based on points earned throughout the three weeks of the tour. Each mass-start stage had two intermediate sprints, the Traguardi Volante, or T.V. The T.V. sprints gave bonus seconds towards the general classification, points towards the regular points classification, and also points towards the T.V. classification. This award was known by various names in previous years, and was previously time-based. It was won by Brazilian Rafael Andriato of the team. Andriato also won the Premio della Fuga, which rewarded riders who took part in a breakaway at the head of the field. Each rider in an escape of ten or fewer riders received one point for each kilometre that the group stayed clear.