Stage three winner Michael Matthews has finished 14th amongst a messy finish to stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia this afternoon.

At the conclusion of the bunch sprint, Matthews rolled in behind winner Sacha Modolo (Lampre – Merida), before a split in the field to further finishers.

A little earlier, a crash just outside three kilometres to go saw a number of general classification riders taken down and the pink jersey change hands from Alberto Contador (Tinkoff – Saxo) to Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team).

The short 147km flat stage was not a particular target for ORICA-GreenEDGE, but the team took the opportunity to position Matthews for one last attempt at a result before the 24-year-old left the Italian grand tour.   

“The boys did a very good job keeping Michael out of trouble today,” sport director Matt White said. “It was another messy and hectic final and in the end he wasn’t able to contest the sprint with the like of those in front.

“Michael Hepburn did run into the crash towards the final kilometres there, but he has been assessed by the doctor and is OK.”