On stage 13 from San Remo to Cuneo, Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl did everything in its power to contain the breakaway group. However, after the stage, the team recovered from its great effort and debriefed, but without any regrets.

Cavendish sprinted twice in the last 500 meters, once to jump over riders and find the wheels of eventual winner Arnaud Demaret, and a second time to get ahead of the Frenchman. And the second time, he tried to get ahead of the Frenchman. Only the final victory eluded him.

Cavendish was understandably disappointed not to win the final sprint race of the 2022 Giro d'Italia. Stage 18 is flat and will finish in Treviso, but the breakaway group may have the upper hand on this day. All sprinters who decide to stay in the Giro will have to climb high in the Alps to survive the two terrible mountain stages this weekend and finish in Aprica and Lavarone.

Cavendish and Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl coach Davide Bramati, while disappointed with the loss, praised De Mare and his Groupama-FDJ team. While the other teams forfeited the chase for tactical reasons, Groupama-FDJ and Israel-Premier Tech fought fair.

"We didn't win, but this time we can accept the loss," Bramati told Cycling News and RAI TV after the stage.

"We didn't win, but Mark came close. I am happy that De Mare and Grupama-FDJ won the sprint and not another rival team.

Bramati did not regret his decision to focus on the chase as the race crossed the Colle di Nava climb from the coast to the Piemonte region.

Filippo Tagliani (Dronehopper - Androni Giocattoli), Julius van den Bergh (EF Education - Easy Post), Nicolas Prodome (AG2R Citroen), and Pascal Enkhoorn (Jumbo-Visma) were all in the lead with 50 They maintained a 4:35 gap at the km marker and 1:05 at the 10 km marker.

Thanks to the efforts of Quick Step-Alphavinyl, Groupama-FDJ, and Israel-Premiatek, the breakaway was caught just 500 meters from the finish.

"The breakaway group worked hard together and built a big gap, but the wind was blowing more than expected in the valley, so we had to sacrifice the whole team to close the gap and pull back. But we were able to catch them just before the finish, so I think we made the right decision," Bramati explained.

Bramati admitted that the sprint in Cuneo was likely Cavendish's last chance to win stage 2 after winning stage 3 in Balatonfured.

"There is stage 18, but the Giro will be harder starting Saturday," he warned.

"I want to get through the mountain stages this weekend. It won't be easy because we went deep to win today. But I'll give it my all, as I always do."