Elia Viviani wins a third stage at the 2018 Giro d’Italia

Another sprint finish pitted the top two riders in the points classification. Elia Viviani won for the third time at the 2018 Giro d’Italia.

Elia Viviani was caught out in the inclement weather on Stage 12 of the 2018 Giro d’Italia. In the process he lost two-thirds of his lead in the points classification. Viviani’s hold on the maglia ciclamino seemed tenuous, his victories fading into the past. After all, Viviani had yet to win on Italian soil in this race. Both of his early stage wins came while the Giro d’Italia was still in Israel.

That all changed on Friday in the run-in to Nervesa della Battaglia. It was a stage tailor-made for sprinters, offering a final opportunity for Bennett, Viviani and the rest of the specialists to battle one last time before a week of mountain climbing.

Both Viviani and Bennett were certainly game for the challenge. Each man had won two stages so far in the race. Separated by just 22 points in the battle to wear the purple jersey of the points leader, the Italian and the Irishman seemed destined for a duel. The false-flat finish, with a rise of 18 meters over 6.2 kilometers, offered the perfect stage for their showdown.

Of course, other sprinters also had the desire to thwart those ambitions

The leaders in the general classification were content to sit back and use the stage as a virtual rest day. Teams looking to protect their leaders needed only to make sure they were safely embedded in the peloton. Simon Yates maintained his 47-second lead on Tom Dumoulin, and the top 10 remained static.

That left the focus squarely on the finishing sprint. Five riders escaped off the front of the peloton early in the race. Markel Irizar, Marco Marcato, Andrea Vendrame, Alessandro Toneeli, and Eugert Zhupa added minute after minute to their lead as the caravan wound its way from Ferrara to Nervesa della Battaglia.

But the sprinters’ teams were never going to allow the quintet to stay off the front. Only a miscalculation would prevent the field from reeling back in the breakaway. The peloton never allowed the five leaders to gain an advantage greater than 3:30 on the road. As the kilometers ticked away, the gap widened and narrowed as the main field treated the break like a yo-yo.

The reunion occurred with 6.2 kilometers remaining from the finish. That gave the sprinters and their teams time to set up for the dash to the finish.

Bennett latched on to Viviani’s wheel, while a doomed attack in the final kilometer was quickly reeled back. Quick Step put Viviani into good position, while LottoNL ratcheted up the pace for Danny van Poppel. Sacha Modolo tried to go early, as Bennett did the day before, but it was a fruitless effort. Modolo faded at the end as Bennett recuperated for second, and was relegated to fourth on the stage.

What this win means for Viviani and the sprinters

With the victory, Viviani became the first Italian to win three stages in a Giro d’Italia since Emanuele Sella and Daniele Bennati both pulled off the feat in the 2008 edition. Viviani also rebuilt his advantage in the points race to 40 points over Bennett. As long as he remains in the race until Rome, Viviani will continue to wear the maglia ciclamino.

But whether they stay in the race is a valid question. The Giro is backloaded with a murderer’s row of climbs, beginning with the Zoncolan on Saturday’s Stage 14 run. Sprinters have traditionally pulled out of the Giro in droves in the final week. Will Viviani and Bennett remain in the field to duel all the way to the finish?

Now the race becomes the domain of the climbers and the general classification leaders. Yates will look to put more time between himself and his rivals in the battle for the maglia rosa. Dumoulin will look to limit his deficit over the weekend prior to the time trial to begin the final week of racing.

Next: Giro d'Italia 2018: Everything you need to know about the route

Depending on what happens in the penultimate weekend of the 2018 Giro d’Italia, we could either see things remain constant or a complete shake-up of the general classification. But for now, the points leaders are locked in as long as they remain locked into the race.