Orica-GreenEDGE dominated the first part of the Giro d'Italia but in the second week of the race, things have changed. Down to just 5 riders, they admit that they are currently in surviving mode.

The breakaway earned an unexpected victory on stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia with Marco Canola (Bardiani CSF) winning a three-up sprint. The Italian was part of a six man move that formed early in the stage. A lack of cooperation amongst the sprinters’ teams in the final ten kilometres allowed the leading trio to evade the peloton all the way to the finish line.

Six riders formed the escape of the day. With Jackson Rodriguez (Androni Giocattoli) best-placed on the overall in the breakaway, nearly one hour down on race leader Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step), the chase work was left to teams with an interest in the stage win. Initially FDJ.fr and Giant-Shimano assumed the bulk of the responsibility for the pace-making, never allowing the leaders more than 3’30 on the field.

A hailstorm followed rain showers, causing race commissaires to slow the field before the race hit the finish circuit. Twenty kilometres from the finish, the break had 1’42 and FDJ.fr seemed determine to shut down the move, which would eventually split in half. The peloton managed to overtake three of the early escapees while the stronger three hung on for the win.

It was a quiet day for ORICA-GreenEDGE. Svein Tuft was the only rider from the Australian outfit to finish on bunch time, crossing the finish line 11” behind Canola in 97th place.

“The sprint teams massively messed up the chase today,” said Sport Director Matt White. “We didn’t feature in the action today. We would have liked to have done something in sprint with Mitch [Docker], but he wasn’t in a good way today.”

“Mitch had a bit of a fever overnight and couldn’t eat much this morning or during the stage,” explained White. “He was in trouble today. Pieter Weening also had a bit of a stomach problem. I think we might be in survival mode tomorrow.”