The predominant sprinter of Giros d'Italia of the recent past once again couldn't muster the speed to overtake cycling's prevailing speedster of the present.
Team Columbia's Mark Cavendish took his third stage win of this year's Giro with Alessandro Petacchi trying desperately to pass as they crossed the finish line in Florence on Friday.
Petacchi, Ale-Jet, schooled Cavendish and his teammates early on in Stages 2 and 3 this year, but Cavendish has returned with victories in Stages 9, 11 and 13. The Brit can give some credit to Columbia teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen, who once again set up Cavendish in textbook fashion.
The Garmin-Slipstream team controlled the front of the peloton as it entered Florence after a 109-mile, mostly flat stage. They weren't able to keep control for their sprinter, Tyler Farrar of Wenatchee, as the other US-based team, Columbia, took over the lead.
Petacchi sat right on Cavendish's wheel while the train roared into Florence, but the Italian couldn't make it all the way past him as they drove to the finish.
No changes in the upper ranks of the overall classification. Denis Menchov of Rabobank leads, followed 34 seconds later by Danilo Di Luca and Levi Leipheimer at 40 seconds behind. Full results are available at CyclingNews.
Changes in those pink jersey competition rankings are possible on Stage 14. Saturday's contest features 5 climbs over the 107-mile distance, including a final climb into the finishing town of Bologna.
A live, free video stream of the Giro is available online at Universal Sports.
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