Crosswinds made things nervous Friday afternoon.
Stage 13 of the race began with Julian Alaphilippe taking to the podium again, where he was awarded with the most combative rider of the day prize for the second time since the beginning of the race, this time following his successful breakaway in Fano. From there, it continued with the flattest stage of the race, 179 kilometers from Riccione to Cento, one which should have been uneventful, at least on paper.
The crosswinds, however, had other plans, and with around 80 kilometers to go decided to spread chaos in the peloton, which was quickly fragmented into three separate groups. The likes of Julian Alaphilippe, Tim Merlier and Pieter Serry found themselves on the right side of the split, and contributed to the pace-setting, which quickly helped the group take their advantage to 25 seconds. Behind, many teams took up the chasing and after more than 20 kilometers, and with the help of the wind which dropped once the riders entered the small towns on the route, they made the catch.
The closing kilometer was a really technical one, featuring numerous bends that made positioning very difficult, and this led to a chaotic sprint, won by Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek). Tim Merlier concluded just outside the top ten, while Jan Hirt kept his place on the general classification ahead of the second time trial.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Julian Alaphilippe 
Tim Merlier 
