Bettiol's pre-stage predictions proved right as he takes deeply personal Giro win

There will have been plenty of people who had written off Alberto Bettiol entirely. The Italian had shown little since joining XDS Astana, but the team and Alexandre Vinokourov kept the faith. That proved to be the right call, as his stunning win in the thirteenth stage of the Giro d'Italia confirmed. It was an intensely personal victory — and one he had, in effect, already predicted before the stage.

Before the start, Bettiol weighed up his chances in what was clearly a stage for attackers — and therefore a stage for XDS Astana. "Today is a nice chance for us," he told CyclingPro.net. "It's also a very important day today, so we are very focused. Today is good for me, so I'm going to try to anticipate. I know the final climb very well, but it's also a bit too hard for me."

But the experienced classics specialist also knew things might not go to plan. "Everyone, including me, is tired. It's not the same as a one-day race — it's not just the legs, but the mental side too. The final climb gets harder and harder, and the descent isn't narrow, but it is very technical." That knowledge shaped his winning strategy. "If you have 10 seconds, you can make it to the finish."

And so it came to pass. Bettiol was part of a 15-man breakaway and was able to stay with the best climbers in the finale. When Andreas Leknessund attacked, he looked like he might have to let him go. But the Italian stayed ice-cool, gradually closed the gap, and went straight over him — about a hundred metres from the summit. That acceleration put his rival on the back foot, and Leknessund never closed it down.

A beautiful victory, made all the more meaningful by the personal dimension. "In theory, I won already before the start because I had all my family here, and my second family — my girlfriend's family — who are from Verbania. I consider it my second home," the winner explained in his flash interview. "My brother, my father, my mother — having them all here was already a victory. But winning like this is something I will bring forever with me. The two-year wait doesn't matter anymore."

His knowledge of the parcours was crucial. "I knew every single corner in the last 50 kilometres because I sometimes train here. I saw the climb a couple of months ago on a motorbike. I knew the last kilometre was really, really hard. I expected somebody to attack harder from the climbers — for me, this climb was really at the limit. But I knew my shape was good, and knowing the climb really helped me enormously."

Everyone had been looking at Filippo Ganna for the stage to Verbania — his home town, and where he had already won the stage ten time trial. Ganna could not get into the breakaway, but 'semi-local' Bettiol could — and did. It was his first professional win in two years, and his first for XDS Astana.

"I'm very happy that I finally managed to win in this jersey. I'm happy because two years ago Vino believed in me enormously — he wanted me in the team. I've finally been able to pay him back. Overall, my teammates have had a fantastic Giro, and I'm happy that I could contribute to that."