Sprint king Mark Cavendish powered to victory in the 13th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Friday but then announced he is quitting the race.
Sprint King continues his sequence in Florence
Sprint king Mark Cavendish powered to victory in the 13th stage of the Giro d'Italia on Friday but then announced he is quitting the race.
The Isle of Man speedster will not continue when the race heads into the Apennine mountains on Saturday's 14th, as his Team Colombia manager Rolf Aldag explained: "He has had a very successful couple of weeks at the Giro but he is still young and he has a long career ahead of him.
"He has already raced 55 days this year and it is our view that the best thing for Mark is to take some recovery now before the Tour (de France)."
The red-hot Team Columbia star - who had won the neutralised ninth stage as well as the 11th - continued the sequence in Florence, with Russia's Denis Menchov retaining the leader's pink jersey.
But it was not all plain sailing for the Briton, as he had to change bikes shortly after the start because of a bump with French rider Yohann Gene.
Germany's Bjorn Schroder had led the first breakaway with Italy's Leonardo Scarselli and Russia's Mikhail Ignatiev just 12km into the stage.
Schroder led with 30km to go but was eventually reined in by the peloton six kms from home and the pack arrived together in Florence at the end of a virtually flat 176km run from Lido di Camaiore.
Out-pedalled
Cavendish, who turned 24 on Thursday, then out-pedalled LPR's Alessandro Petacchi on the final straight, holding off his Italian rival by a length.
The victory means the Briton now has five Giro d'Italia stage successes to his name, having picked up two wins in last year's race.
Australia's Allan Davis took third place ahead of Robert Hunter of South Africa.
During the stage, former sprint-specialist Mario Cipollini managed to infiltrate the peloton for a few moments, according to Italian television station
RAI.
"The Giro passed right in front of my house, so I took the opportunity to say hello to a few friends," said the Italian 2002 world champion, who won a record 42 stages in the race during his cycling career.
There was no change at the top of the overall standings, with Menchov continuing to hold a 34-second lead over Italian Danilo Di Luca.
Stage 13 result:1. Mark Cavendish (Britain/Columbia) 3hrs 48mins 36secs
2. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy/Team LPR ) same time
3. Allan Davis (Australia/Quick-Step)
4. Robert Hunter (South Africa/Barloworld)
5. Tyler Farrar (US/ Garmin)
6. Juan Jose Haedo (Argentina/Saxo Bank)
7. Robert Forster (Germany/Milram)
8. Ben Swift (Britain/Katusha)
9. Davide Vigano (Italy/Fuji)
10. Sebastien Hinault (France/AG2R)
