Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 13 preview | Friday the... 13th stage!

Friday the 13th brings Stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia. As the riders enter the third weekend of the race, they will experience a bit of everything: Saturday features a tough mountain stage, Sunday a sprint showdown, and Friday… another transitional stage finishing in Verbania. Here’s what to expect from this stage.

Stage 13 has become a familiar pattern in this Giro: a flat start, followed by a tricky finale. It could be a day for the sprinters—if it weren’t for two challenging climbs in the last 20 kilometers toward Verbania. Breakaway riders will smell their opportunity, but setting up a move on the flat from Alessandria won’t be easy.

The route is almost 160 kilometers as flat as a billiard table. From Alessandria, the peloton heads west briefly, then quickly turns north. Via Vercelli, they ride about 50 kilometers west of Milan, with no obstacles along the way.

The first climb, the Bieno, comes just over twenty kilometers from the finish. It’s the gentler of the two, measuring 2.4 km at 5.5%. A short, mild descent leads to Trobaso, where the road gradually rises again.

The Ungiasca follows, a tougher climb at 4.7 km averaging 7.1%, with a maximum gradient of 13% near the finish.

A small crest follows at the top. From there, it’s not far to the finish. Of the remaining 13 kilometers, about 8.5 km descend with twists and turns, making it difficult to create gaps.

The final 4.5 kilometers are truly flat. One sharp turn remains, then it’s straight to the line in what is essentially Filippo Ganna territory.

Times
Start: 12:55 p.m. CET (11:55 a.m. GMT| 06:55 a.m. ET)
Finish: around 5:05 p.m. CET (4:05 p.m. GMT | 11:05 a.m. ET)

Just like Thursday, Friday will be very warm, reaching 29°C. Clear skies and a light northeast breeze make sun protection essential.

One rider is certain to be up front: Filippo Ganna. After his time trial victory, the Italian from Netcompany INEOS has already met his goal, but Verbania is his home turf. He knows the roads like no one else and would love to win in his backyard. The course is challenging, but is it too hard for Ganna? Time will tell. Heat may affect him, as seen on Thursday.

Other strong attackers include Jhonatan Narváez of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who has already won three stages and could go for a fourth. His team also features riders like António Morgado, Jan Christen, and Igor Arrieta who could seize the victory.

Look out for good climbers among the Italians: Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Gianmarco Garofoli, Andrea Raccagni Noviero (Soudal Quick-Step), Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious), Diego Ulissi, Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana), Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar), and Alessandro Pinarello (NSN Cycling).

Thursday demonstrated that some teams have sprinters who can survive climbs, such as Movistar’s Orluis Aular and NSN’s Corbin Strong. Riders like Ben Turner (Netcompany INEOS), Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious), Toon Aerts (Lotto-Intermarché), and Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) can handle climbs and hope for a favorable scenario. Pure sprinters may find the finale too tough.

Attackers from a breakaway are also likely. Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X), Enric Mas (Movistar), Koen Bouwman (Jayco AlUla), Wout Poels (Unibet Rose Rockets), Florian Stork (Tudor), Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS-Astana), and Josh Kench (Groupama-FDJ) have shown capability in this Giro.

As for the general classification contenders, they could get involved, but typically save energy for Saturday’s hard mountain stage.

Top favorites: Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)
Outsiders: Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG), Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana), Filippo Ganna (Netcompany INEOS) and Orluis Aular (Movistar)