Contador loses Giro d’Italia lead to Aru after crash chaos, while Modolo sprints to stage 13 victory

Italy's Fabio Aru assumed the Giro d’Italia after avoiding a crash in the closing kilometres to Jesolo ©AFP/Getty Images

Astana’s Fabio Aru became the new leader of the Giro d’Italia after a crash in the closing kilometres of stage 13 from Montecchio Maggiore to Jesolo caught out Spain’s Alberto Contador, while fellow Italian Sacha Modolo sprinted to the victory.

Having extended his lead over his main rivals on stage 12 by earning a time bonus, Saxo Tinkoff’s Contador would have been hoping for a quiet day in the saddle, with the 170km flat stage to Jesolo set to favour the sprinters.

The third consecutive day of rain and pace of the main field on the run-in to the finish, however, contributed to a dramatic conclusion to the race, with a crash occurring 3.2km from the line delaying several sprinters and general classification contenders alike, including the Spaniard.

Lampre-Merida’s Modolo took advantage of the reduced field to sprint to victory ahead of Trek Factory Racing’s Giacomo Nizzolo and Team Sky’s Elia Viviani, with the Italians finishing second and third respectively, on the same time as the stage winner.

“Finally I've won a stage,” Modolo said after his victory.

“My great companion, colleague and friend, Max Richeze, gave me the perfect lead-out, and I just finished off the work of my team.

“At Forlì the breakaway made it so I didn't get the chance to sprint, so it was destiny that I would win my home stage.

“I have so many friends standing at the barriers from San Vendemiano, my home village, that this experience is unforgettable.”

Sacha Modolo sprinted to victory to give his Lampre-Merida team their third stage victory of this year's Giro ©AFP/Getty Images

While Modolo was toasting his victory the pink jersey was changing hands with Contador losing a leader’s jersey for the first time in his career after being caught up in the crash, with Aru finishing 36 seconds clear of the Saxo Tinkoff rider, having finished safely in the lead group.

Contador, who had held the race lead since stage five, was unfortunate the crash occurred narrowly outside the final three kiloemtres, as race rules would have seen the Spanish cyclist finish on the same time as the main group had the incident occurred inside the distance.

The Saxo Tinkoff rider now lies 19 seconds off the lead in second, having begun the day 17 seconds clear, while Spain’s Mikel Landa remains third 1:14 behind his teammate Aru.

“Today was very hard, in bad weather, on a route that was flat but with lots of roundabouts and other paraphernalia,” Aru said.

“I was always at the front, in a good position to avoid possible falls, and what happened, happened.

“Now I'm just thinking of tomorrow.”

Stage 14 could prove to be a crucial day in the general classification with the 59km individual time trial between Treviso and Valdobbiadene likely to see several time gaps between the main contenders.