Einer Rubio takes brilliant win to break Thibaut Pinot's heart on shortened stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia
Cycling
Einer Rubio claimed a brilliant win on stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia, breaking the heart of Thibaut Pinot in his final Giro d'Italia.
Finally after a day of chaos, confusion and delays, stage 13 of the 2023 Giro d'Italia got underway at 15:00CET and the attacking began immediately at the front of the race as the sprinters started a grupetto almost from the get go.
As the climbing began instantly, an early group rode clear that included some notable riders such as Thibaut Pinot, Jay Vine and an EF Education-EasyPost trio of Ben Healy, Jefferson Alexander Cepeda and Hugh Carthy.
INEOS were not content with that group though and Laurens de Plus shredded the peloton as he led the chase.
The next group to try their luck included a number of riders from the first attempt with Pinot, Cepeda and Valentin Paret-Peintre all involved.
As the rain began to fall the leading group held an advantage of 47 seconds over the peloton with half of the first climb still to go.
Unhappy with the pace INEOS were setting, Bahrain - Victorious moved to the front with Santiago Buitrago, perhaps showing Damiano Caruso was on a good day.
With Thibaut Pinot continuing his King of the Mountains quest, taking maximum points on the climb, the leaders advantage had stretched towards nearly three minutes.
As the descending stopped a lead group of five riders had 4:00 on the peloton with Pinot now firmly back in GC contention.
On the flat, Thibaut Pinot was getting visibly frustrated with his breakaway companions' lack of cooperation. After he had a stern word however, things seemed to improve somewhat.
Reaching the final climb with a lead of 2:56 over the peloton, it seemed as if the chances for a stage win looked good for the breakaway.
With 12km to go, Pinot made a move with only Cepeda able to follow. As Einer Rubio rejoined them, Pinot kicked again but he seemingly unable to shake them off his wheel.
As they then began to argue amongst themselves, they were soon back up to four with Derek Gee back in contact.
Back down the road the GC battle was still quiet with the INEOS Grenadiers comfortable at the front of the peloton. On an emotional day for EOLO-Kometa, Lorenzo Fortunato then became the first rider to attack the Maglia Rosa group.
Pinot continued to make attack after attack without ever being able to really snap the elastic to Cepeda and Rubio.
Hugh Carthy was the next GC rider to attack and almost simultaneously his teammate Cepeda made a move at the front of the race.
Although Carthy was quickly able to join Fortunato some 20 seconds ahead of the bunch, Cepeda found similar problems to what Pinot had earlier on, unable to break the leading trio apart.
After catching his breath and riding alongside Fortunato for a moment, Carthy kicked again riding clear of the Italian.
Caruso was the net to go from the GC bunch. More threatening to Geraint Thomas than Carthy, Thymen Arensman made an instant move to reel him in.
In the final sprint, it was Einer Rubio who had been hanging on all the way up the final climb that outsprinted Pinot and Cepeda to take the stage win.
In the GC battle, Carthy was able to claim a few seconds but there was no race-changing time gaps.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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🇨🇴 @Einerrubio1 wins stage 1️⃣3️⃣ of the Giro d’Italia!🥇 🇨🇴 @Einerrubio1 vince la tappa 1️⃣3️⃣ del Giro d’Italia! 🥇 #Giro #GirodItalia @LeFrecce @Movistar_Team
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