Fernando Gaviria sprinted to the line on stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia 2021 without a saddle and still managed to achieve fifth on the day behind stage winner Giacomo Nizzolo.
Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) came from a long way back to rejoin and sprint straight past his lead-out men in the final 250 metres, but without a saddle. Nizzolo (Qhubeka-Assos) jumped onto the Colombian's wheel to bridge to Edoardo Affini (Jumbo-Visma) who had attacked solo before taking the win.
But it is not yet known how Gaviria misplaced his perch. There was a bit of a reshuffling into the final two corners during the last kilometre that also saw Nizzolo's lead-out man Max Walscheid drop his chain, so perhaps it was there.
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Gaviria also suffered from a nose bleed with around 60km which was also a rather strange moment for him, but he managed to take back some points on Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) at the intermediate sprint before losing out the Slovakian rider in the sprint as Sagan finished third on the day, keeping his points jersey.
UAE Team Emirates' star sprinter has had a rough time the last couple of seasons having caught Covid-19 twice in 2020, bouncing back to win soon after both times but he has yet to take a win in 2021.
He looks to have the pace but various mishaps in the lead-out have meant that he has missed out on potential wins. Stage two of the Giro saw him taken out by his own team-mate, he went very early on stage seven to finish sixth and a poor lead into the final corner on stage 10 saw him come second behind Sagan.
We will update this story when we receive more information
