Three climbs in the final part of the Giro's longest stage was not enough to shed Mark Cavendish out the back of the peloton on the Giro's longest stage and in the end he finished off some impressive work by his Omega Pharma-Quick Steep team by outsprinting Giacomo Nizzolo (Radioshack) and Luka Mezgec (Argos-Shimano) to take his second consecutive win in the race. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) finished safely in the bunch to defend his overall lead ahead of the first of two big stages in the Alps.

Yesterday Mark Cavendish proved that he is the fastest man in the Giro by winning a classic stage for the sprinters but today he proved that he is much more than just a fast man. A tough final of the Giro's longest stage saw some strong climbers go on the attack and forced his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team to chase hard on the climbs but clad in the red points jersey he was never far away from the front.

Having catched the final escapee with less than three kilometres to go, the bunch prepared to set up a huge battle between the surviving sprinters and it was no surprise to see Cavendish emerge as the fastest. Despite a fast finish by Giacomo Nizzolo, he took his career win number 101 just one day after his most recent one.

The sprint came at the end of a very hectic final where even the GC riders showed their hands at some point. With 17km to go the remainders of the day's early break Lars Bak (Lotto), Pablo Lastras (Movistar) and Nicola Boem (Bardiani) started to climb the day's penultimate ascent while a severely reduced peloton led by the Omega Pharma-Quick Step trio of Jerome Pineau, Julien Vermote and Serge Pauwels chased 45 seconds behind.

Bak was the first to show his hands with a short acceleration which left Boem behind but a little further up the road, it was Lastras who emerged as the strongest as he dropped the Dane. Behind all hell broke loose as attacks started to go thick and fast.

The first one came from Francesco Bongiorno (Bardiani) who was joined by Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil) but more riders tried to leave the peloton behind. Bak was picked up by the many attackers and a few moments later they also caught Lastras to form a 9 rider group consisting of Bak, Lastras, Bongiorno, Veuchelen, Jorge Azanza (Euskaltel), Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha), Oscar Gatto (Vini Fantini), Matteo Rabottini (Vini Fantini) and Jose Herrada (Movistar).

Behind, Omega Pharma-Quick Step was forced to keep a hard, steady pace to keep the break in check but Cavendish appeared to be totally comfortable near the front of the peloton. Despite riders dropping off in large numbers he was always well-placed in the bunch and seemed to have no trouble tackling the climb.

Up ahead Lastras and Rabottini sacrificed their own chances for teammates Herrada and Gatto respectively as they sped down the descent and along the flat roads on the approach to the day's final climb. As soon as the road started to points upwards, the duo and Bak were dropped while Gatto put in the first of a number of accelerations. That also spelled the end for Veuchelen.

Behind, Gianluca Brambilla was now the one chasing for Omega Pharma-Quick Step but all hell broke loose when 9th placed Benat Intxausti( Movistar) and Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) accelerated off the front. Vincenzo Nibali was unwilling to allow Intxausti any leeway and so he joined the move and that forced the other GC riders to close it down. Robert Kiserlovski (Radioshack) countered and quickly closed the gap to the front group which had seen Caruso go off the front on his own.

Tanel Kangert (Astana) went to the front to discourage any further attacks from the GC riders and that spelled the end for the chase group. For a moment, the prospects looked bleak for an isolated Cavendish but as they crested the summit of the climb, the pace went down.

Cannondale had still numerous riders and they started to chase hard on the flat run-in to the finish. A short-lived attempt from Danilo Di Luca (Vini Fantini) was quickly brought back, and as Saxo-Tinkoff also started to chase to set up Daniele Bennati for the sprint, it was all over for Caruso with less than 3km to go.

Cannondale continued to set a hard pace but as they passed the flamme rouge they were overtaken by the Orica-GreenEdge duo of Pieter Weening and Jens Keukeleire. They had, however, left their sprinter Brett Lancaster further behind and instead Cannondale was back at the front with 600m to go.

Eli Viviani was delivered perfectly to the line by his green-clad team but the Italian did not had the power to match Cavendish who started his sprint from further behind while Viviani drifted back to finish 5th. Luka Mezgec benefitted from a position in Cavendish's wheel to take 3rd while Nizzolo finished fast ut had to settle for second. Nibali finished safely in the bunch to defend his lead while the overall top 10 was unchanged.

It will not be three in a row for Cavendish as the first of two consecutive days in the Alps awaits the riders tomorrow and it will now be up to the GC riders to show their cards. Starting at 14.15 you can follow all the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

A long stage

The 254km 13th stage from Busseto to Cherasco was the longest of this year's race but also one of the hardest to predict. Three smaller climbs in the end made the sprinters doubt their own chances and so it was hard to say whether it would be a sprint or a successful breakaway that would determine the outcome.

Hence, many teams wanted to go on the attack and it took almost an hour for the day's early move to be established. Danilo Hondo (Radioshack), Giairo Ermeti (Androni) and Rafael Andriato (Vini Fantini) were allowed to slip off the front and they were later joined by Bak, Lastras and Tobias Ludvigsson (Argos-Shimano).

7 riders on the move

Boem also gained contact before the peloton decided to ease off and the 7-rider group was allowed to build up a gap of no less than 13 minutes. That was too much for Orica-GreenEdge which started to chase, hoping that either Matt Goss or Lancaster could have a say in a sprint finish.

The gap came down to 9 minutes when the peloton suddenly hit a section of crosswinds which put many teams on the offensive. Saxo-Tinkoff, Astana and Omega Pharma-Quick Step all joined the Australian team on the front while the group momentarily split in two before it was all back together.

Orica-GreenEdge starts to chase

The action had seen the gap fall down to less than three minutes but as the peloton took a short breather, it once again increased to 3.30. However, Orica-GreenEdge once again decided to chase and for many kilometres Jens Mouris did a huge amount of work on the front.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step decided to contribute by putting Iljo Keisse to work and later he was replaced by Vermote. The gap started to come down and as they passed the seconds intermediate sprint with 52,5km to go, the advantage of the break was close to a minute.

The climb splits the peloton

Pauwels and Australian champion Luke Durbridge were now setting the pace as the peloton approached the day's only categorized climb. Cavendish started the climb in perfect position but early on Movistar hit the front with Jose Herrada and the Manxman drifted slightly backwards.

While riders were being shed from the peloton, Boem attacked in from the front group and only Lastras and Bak were able to respond. The remainders were all picked up by the peloton from which Alessandro Proni (Vini Fantini), Diego Rosa (Androni), Stefano Garzelli (Vini Fantini), Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani), Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) and Luca Paolini (Katusha) had attacked.

Sprinters struggle

The hard pace by Movistar meant that that group was quickly reeled in and instead Proni and Garzelli started to set a hard peloton. Seemingly unbothered by this fact Cavendish had now moved to the front end of the peloton while Sacha Modolo (Bardiani) was dropped and Nizzolo and Mezgec struggled at the back end.

Over the top the front three only had less than 30 seconds but as Vini Fantini stopped their chasing and Omega Pharma-Quick Step once again hit the front, the gap started to grow back up. On the descent and flat run-in to the penultimate climb, it went up to more than 45 seconds.

As soon as the road started to points upwards, that all changed and the peloton started to get closer. Bak put in a small acceleration which signaled the start of a thrilling final from which Cavendish emerged victorious.

Result:

1. Mark Cavendish 6.09.55

2. Giacomo Nizzolo

3. Luka Mezgec

4. Brett Lancaster

5. Elia Viviani

6. Manuel Belletti

7. Daniele Bennati

8. Filippo Pozzato

9. Anthony Roux

10. Miguel Angel Rubiano

General classification:

1 Vincenzo Nibali - Astana Pro Team 52.38.09
2 Cadel Evans - BMC Racing Team 0.41
3 Rigoberto Uran Uran - Sky Procycling 2.04
4 Robert Gesink - Blanco Pro Cycling Team 2.12
5 Michele Scarponi - Lampre-Merida 2.13
6 Mauro Santambrogio - Vini Fantini-Selle Italia 2.55
7 Przemyslaw Niemiec - Lampre-Merida 3.35
8 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga - Movistar Team 4.05
9 Domenico Pozzovivo - Ag2R La Mondiale 4.17

10 Rafal Majka - Saxo-Tinkoff 4.21

Points classification:

1. Mark Cavendish 108

2. Cadel Evans 73

3. Elia Viviani 72

4. Giacomo Nizzolo 59

5. Maxim Belkov 55

Mountains classification:

1. Stefano Pirazzi 47

2. Jackson Rodriguez 26

3. Robinson Chalapud 23

4. Maxim Belkov 18

5. Giovanni Visconti 16

Youth classification:

1. Rafal Majka 52.42.30

2. Carlos Betancur +1.05

3. Wilco Kelderman +4.34

4. Darwin Atapuma +8.31

5. Diego Rosa +24.09

Teams classification:

1. Sky 157.19.28

2. Blanco +2.22

3. Lampre +9.54

4. Movistar +10.45

5. AStana +11.53