Many were surprised to see that the Cannondale team didn't do much work to bring back the break in yesterday's stage of the Giro d'Italia. However, team sprinter Elia Viviani was on a bad day and didn't feel that he was in a position to ask his teammates to do too much work.

With the last potential sprint finish for several days, the script for Friday’s Stage 13 was set in advance. Even though attacks out of Fossano were certain, it was equally certain that the field would keep a close eye on the escape and then try to bring it back at the last possible moment as the race entered Rivarolo Canavese.

Cannondale Pro Cycling was ready for the sprint. Elia Viviani even went so far as to announce his improved health on Twitter. They were equally ready to keep Ivan Basso in good position and rested in advance of the weekend.

Sure enough, a break of six rolled up the road moments after the field passed kilometer zero. The field gave them a short leash, keeping the gap under three minutes for the first 90km,and then only let it expand past that when the field sat up to get rain jackets as the skies started to open up, letting loose both rain and hail.

But the sun returned and the road dried out as the race entered Rivarolo Canavese to pass through the narrow, technical finish before heading out for another 22km before the stage ended.

At the line for the first time, with 22km remaining, the six-man break had a 2:16 gap on the field. Two kilometers later, it was down to 1:30. The field could taste the catch and eased up on the gas. The break, sensing the inevitable as well, started attacking one another. Bardiani’s Marco Canola went, and then Androni Giocattoli’s Jackson Rodriguez, then Europcar’s Angelo Tulik, followed him. The three raced on with the intermediate sprint their only goal.

When they came to that line, with only thirteen kilometers remaining, Rodriguez took it and the other two didn’t contest. Now they were thinking about the stage win again. The gap was down to 1:20.

The skies were turning blue, the roads were drying, and there was a question in the field as to which team should chase. Meanwhile, the three up front kept going. With ten kilometers left, it was still 1:19 and it was getting very close to being too late.

Five kilometers and it was still 1:10. The Garmin squad decided they had to commit, so they started a furious chase. At the red kite, the break had 30 seconds, and the field was driving hard through the tight turns.

Coming through the last right at 250 meters, the break had it. Canola led out the sprint, and neither Rodriguez nor Tulik could challenge. Victory for Italian Marco Canola.

Eleven seconds later, Maglia Rossa and Nacer Bouhanni charged across the line with Trek’s Giacomo Nizzolo and Viviani just behind. The sprinters had been outwitted.

Viviani, showing he’d recovered well, finished sixth, a good result, and he moved into third in the points competition. But he lost ground on the first two riders in that race, Bouhanni and Nizzolo

Viviani’s day was one of mixed feelings.

“I didn’t ask to my teammates to push hard because I was not sure of my form today. During the stage I didn’t feel good, and I thought was not the right time to ask for extra effort from them.”

Today starts another weekend of climbing. The 164km (101.9mi) Stage Fourteen starts in Aglie, covers three categorized climbs en route to the final first-category climb to Oropa. Cannondale is all-in for Basso today. They’ll take him to the foot of the first major climb, the first-category Alpe Noveis, and then see how the cards fall, with Basso hoping to play a few of his own.