Alberto Dainese sprinted to fifth place on stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia, on a day that saw the unfortunate departure of Team DSM’s GC leader Romain Bardet due to illness.

As has been the routine at the Giro of late, the stage got underway to an attacking start with lots of riders trying to break clear before a break of five established itself and a gap over the peloton. Behind the tempo was maintained on the main climb of the day to keep their gap in check but it was here that Bardet, having started the day hoping to make it through, succumbed to the illness he was struggling with and stepped off the bike and into the team car.

The team rallied around one another on the road to push on and put the disappointment behind them, focusing on a sprint with Dainese and helping in the chase behind the day’s break which was reduced to four after the main climb of the stage.

The peloton had to fight hard to catch the break, only closing the gap in the final few kilometres. From there the sprint opened up and Dainese put in a big effort to find himself some space and sprint to the line, crossing in fifth.

After the stage, Dainese commented: “It was really sad that we lost Romain today and after he stopped we tried to regroup a bit and ride together. We put a couple of guys in the chase behind the breakaway to help control the gap and bring it back. It was super close at the finish and I went for it in the sprint but today I could only manage fifth.”