Intro:

Marco Canola took the stage 13 honours in the Giro d'Italia on Friday (May 23rd) after beating fellow escapees Jackson Rodriguez and Angelo Tulik in a sprint finish.

Script:

Six riders pulled clear of the main group just three kilometres into Friday's 13th stage of the Giro d'Italia.

The advantage of the break away rarely climbed above the three-minute mark, but changing weather conditions played right into the hands of the group.

What had started out as a sunny day turned to gloom in the form of a sudden torrential downpour was followed by a hail shower.

Race stewards forced the main group to ease off the pace over a particularly slick section of road with 30 kilometres to go and the peloton appeared to lose some of their appetite for the chase in the dropping temperatures.

Their closing presence was still felt in the lead group though and Canola decided to take matters into his own hands, attacking the group with just over 16 kilometres to go.

Tulik stayed on Canola's rear wheel and Rodriguez also hung on, while the other half of the group were left behind.

Canola proved too strong for his fellow escapees and crossed in a winning time of three hours, 37 minutes and 20 seconds, with Rodriguez beating Tulik to second place.

Rigoberto Uran finished within that chasing group to retain the overall leader's pink jersey.