Mexican rider Del Toro adds 5 seconds to his Giro lead; Pedersen wins his 4th stage

VICENZA, Italy (AP) — Mexican rider Isaac Del Toro keeps on adding to his Giro d’Italia lead — even if it’s just a few seconds per day.

Del Toro’s third-place finish in the 13th stage Friday, which had a short but steep uphill finale, extended his lead over UAE Team Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso by five seconds.

Danish rider Mads Pedersen claimed his fourth stage win of this year’s race with a burst of acceleration up the ascent to the Monte Berico sanctuary.

Wout van Aert crossed second with the same time as Pedersen and Del Toro finished third, two seconds behind but three seconds ahead of all the other overall contenders.

For the second straight day, Del Toro also picked up a two-second bonus during an intermediate sprint with 10 kilometers to go, while Ayuso picked up four seconds.

In the overall standings, Del Toro leads Ayuso by 38 seconds, with Antonio Tiberi 1:18 back in third.

Simon Yates is fourth, 1:20 behind, and Primoz Roglic is fifth, 1:35 behind.

The 21-year-old Del Toro became the first Mexican cyclist to lead the Giro when he finished second on Sunday.

The 180-kilometer (112-mile) route from Rovigo to Vicenza was mostly flat — until the finale, which featured two ascents to Monte Berico, with an average gradient of 7.1% with the finishing meters at 12%.

Pedersen also won Stages 1, 3 and 5.

The mostly flat 14th stage on Saturday follows a 195-kilometer (121-mile) route from Treviso over the border into Slovenia with a finish in Nova Gorica. Then on Sunday, there’s a big climb up Monte Grappa at the stage’s midpoint.

The Giro ends in Rome on June 1.

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AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling