Mathieu Van der Poel looked to be able to compete with the climbers in the day's breakaway. But 'VDP' ended up paying for his efforts and was overtaken 3 kilometers from the final summit by his compatriot Gijs Lemmereize and then by Santiago Buitrago. Tour of Saudi stage winner, Buitrago outclassed Leemreize approaching the pass. The Colombian, who had crashed during the stage, had a quick bike change and crossed the summit a handful of seconds in advance leading to the Lavarone plateau.
The courageous Buitrago crossed the line 35 seconds ahead of Leemreize and felt a sense of redemption after missing out on stage 12.
"The key to winning today was patience on the last climb. I think I played well. I'm so happy to have won my first WorldTour stage at a Grand Tour. It was tricky, especially crashing early on in the breakaway. I was dreaming about this, especially after the stage in Cogne when I finished second."
-Santiago Buitrago. He left Bogota, Colombia at 18 years old for Italy in 2019, after going through the Esteban Chaves Foundation.
"We took control on the second last climb and pushed the pace to start making the stage harder. We tried to drop some contenders, but we have seen really strong legs from Hindley and Carapaz, but we've gained some seconds on Almeida. It's a good sign. I'm also happy with the team performance and obviously super happy about Santi's win. He has tried a couple of times, but today we saw his class. Overall a very good day for us."
-Mikel Landa. Third overall distancing Almeida now sits @1:05 behind the Maglia Rosa.
"I tried to hold him off, but unfortunately, he kept going for another twenty seconds. My legs soured so much that I couldn't keep his wheel."
-Gijs Leemreize
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