The 2013 Giro d'Italia began on 4 May, and stage 11 occurred on 15 May. The 2013 edition began with a road stage, for the first time since 2003, around Naples before a team time trial took place the following day on the island of Ischia. The rest of the opening half of the race – remaining within Italy for the duration – consisted of medium-mountain stages, save for two categorised flat stages and the first of two individual time trials during the event; the -long eighth stage between Gabicce Mare and Saltara, where each remaining member of the starting peloton of 207 riders competed against the clock.
Mark Cavendish became the first race leader, as he won the opening stage in Naples; the first of two stage wins that Cavendish achieved during the opening half of the race, along with the sixth stage. As a result, Cavendish was the only rider to win multiple stages in the opening half of the race. Cavendish lost the race lead the following day, as his team failed to a sufficient time for him to remain in the jersey. won the stage, which put Salvatore Puccio into the maglia rosa after he had placed highest during the opening stage, out of the five remaining members of the train at the finish. Luca Paolini soloed into the leader's jersey after the third stage, attacking with remaining and held clear of the field to win by sixteen seconds. He held the leader's jersey for four days, before losing it on the seventh stage, held in heavy rain.
On that stage, Adam Hansen – a rider who had completed all three Grand Tours in 2012 – took the honours by over a minute from a stage-long breakaway, while Beñat Intxausti was able to take the leader's jersey after finishing in the group of the overall favourites for the race. Intxausti's weakness in the time trial discipline saw him surrender the lead the following day, losing three and a half minutes to the stage winner, team-mate Alex Dowsett. Vincenzo Nibali – a previous Grand Tour winner at the 2010 Vuelta a España – assumed the race lead, and held the lead to the end of the eleventh stage, which marked the halfway point of the race. Nibali had ended the time trial 29 seconds clear of closest challenger Cadel Evans, but he gained twelve bonus seconds on the tenth stage, the race's first summit finish, to extend his advantage to 41 seconds with the more mountainous second half of the Giro still to come.
LegendJerseys appearing in the table on the left of the page indicate those worn by the cyclist during the particular stage, while those appearing in the table on the right of the page indicate those awarded to the cyclist after the stage. Denotes the leader of the General classification Denotes the leader of the Mountains classification Denotes the leader of the Points classification Denotes the leader of the Young rider classification s.t. indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the one receiving the time above him, and was therefore credited with the same finishing time.
Stage 1 4 May 2013 — Naples to Naples,
For the first time since the 2003 edition of the race, the Giro d'Italia began with a mass-start stage rather than a time trial test against the clock. Naples was announced as the starting location for the race in June 2012, with the 2013 race marking the 50th anniversary of the race's only other start in Naples; on that occasion, Vittorio Adorni soloed to victory in Potenza. The opening stage of the 2013 Giro was a circuit race in and around Naples, with two different circuits being utilised. Four laps of a -long circuit were completed first, with two ascents of a fourth-category climb providing any potential breakaways with the opportunity of claiming the mountains jersey on the opening day. From there, a shorter circuit of in length was completed eight times, with the finish of the stage at the Lungomare Caracciolo. With no major tests on the stage, it was widely expected to end in a sprint finish.
Almost immediately after the race began, the breakaway was formed, with seven riders attempting to work together in order to create a sizable advantage over the field, but could not muster an advantage of much over two minutes. The 's Giovanni Visconti and Cameron Wurf of each led the breakaway over the summit of the climb, with Guillaume Bonnafond () also achieving three points through minor placings on both ascents. This meant that the first maglia azzurra would be settled in the final sprint. Around halfway into the stage, Wurf moved off the front on his own, and remained clear of the field until around , where the -led peloton moved past him.
Several late crashes split the field into many groups, the last of which came inside the final , ensuring that the majority of the field would receive the same time as the stage winner. For the final sprint, it came down to a select group of sprinters; sat on the front with the lead-out for Matthew Goss, but Elia Viviani () and 's Mark Cavendish moved ahead, with Cavendish ultimately taking the victory on the line by almost a bike length. With his 37th Grand Tour stage win, moving him into a tie for eighth place on the all-time list with Rik Van Looy, Cavendish picked up the pink and red jerseys on the podium as leader of the general and points classifications. Although disappointed with losing the sprint, Viviani became the first white jersey wearer as young rider leader, and Visconti placed highest in the sprint to take the mountains lead.
Stage 1 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.General classification after stage 1 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 8" 3 + 12" 4 + 16" 5 + 18" 6 + 20" 7 + 20" 8 + 20" 9 + 20" 10 + 20"
Stage 2 5 May 2013 — Ischia to Forio, , team time trial (TTT)
For the second stage of the race, the peloton was ferried over to the volcanic island of Ischia, which was hosting the Giro d'Italia for the first time in 54 years. On that occasion, an individual time trial over a course of was contested; which was won by Antonino Catalano, taking his only Giro stage victory, beating every other member of the peloton – with the exception of Jacques Anquetil – by over a minute. For Ischia's appearance in the 2013 race, a technical, undulating parcours of was set aside for the team time trial, including gradients of approaching 7% for a period within the final of the course. The start order for the stage was primarily set by the reverse order of how each of the 23 teams were ranked in the Trofeo Fast Team standings after the previous day's opening stage; the only exception was that would set off last, as Mark Cavendish was in possession of the maglia rosa, as the general classification leader.
were the first team to start – each team setting off thereafter, at three-minute intervals – and only shed one rider from their train by the time they reached the finish in a time of 23' 01", but that time was beaten by the next squad on the course, as went below 23 minutes, recording a time of 22' 55". were next onto the stage, and were comfortably quicker, as they were 22 seconds faster for the course. Their time was not beaten until hit the course, and despite early problems for several of their team, they came across the line in a time of 22' 05". As it turned out, the time was not to be beaten, giving the squad their second team time trial victory of the season after a victory in the discipline at the Giro del Trentino. By the end of the stage, only one team – the – remained within ten seconds, having recorded a quicker time, by two seconds, to the intermediate point in Casamicciola Terme. Cavendish surrendered the leader's jersey, as could only record the seventeenth best time, 48 seconds down on . As a result, Salvatore Puccio became the race leader, as of the five remaining members of the train at the finish, he had placed highest on the opening stage.
Stage 2 result TeamTime 1 2 + 9" 3 + 14" 4 + 19" 5 + 22" 6 s.t. 7 + 25" 8 + 28" 9 + 34" 10 + 35"General classification after stage 2 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 0" 3 + 0" 4 + 0" 5 + 0" 6 + 9" 7 + 9" 8 + 9" 9 + 9" 10 + 9"
Stage 3 6 May 2013 — Sorrento to Marina di Ascea,
Back on the mainland after its foray to Ischia, the third stage of the 2013 Giro was split into three distinct sections. From the start in Sorrento, the peloton completed two circuits of a loop before making an undulating way along the Amalfi coast to Salerno. Upon reaching Salerno – where the first of two intermediate sprint points was held, along with one at Agropoli – the route remained relatively flat for the next . The day's two categorised climbs came within the final third of the stage; the second-category San Mauro Cilento, averaging 6.7% over , with gradients reaching 16% in the opening metres of the climb, and the third-category Sella di Catona, averaging 6.6% over . From the top of the Sella di Catona, there was a near- descent into the finish town of Ascea.
The day's breakaway was formed immediately after the start in Sorrento, with seven riders going clear to establish an advantage; the best of which was Fabio Taborre of the team, who trailed the overall leader Salvatore Puccio () by 22 seconds overnight. Despite this, the septet was allowed to establish an advantage of over seven minutes at its maximum. On the San Mauro Cilento, the breakaway was down to six riders as Bert De Backer () lost contact with his companions. rider Willem Wauters led over the climb, while the peloton came across the top around 3' 45" down on the lead sextet, with De Backer in between. A group of sprinters fell off the back of the peloton, including 's Mark Cavendish and Nacer Bouhanni of , but both were able to rejoin.
Taborre attacked on the descent from the climb, gaining an advantage of over a minute at one point, reaching the foot of the Sella di Catona with such a lead. upped the pace in the peloton, which enabled the group to overcome the remnants of the breakaway group, and at one point, caused a fracture in the main field which saw a group of overall contenders including Ryder Hesjedal, Vincenzo Nibali, Bradley Wiggins and Michele Scarponi to get clear. Hesjedal then attacked solo from this group, passing Taborre, before slowing up and returned to the main group. On the descent, Nibali's team-mate Valerio Agnoli pushed on and had Hesjedal and 's Luca Paolini join him. This group was brought back, with keeping the pace high. Paolini attacked again with around remaining, and was not to be caught, taking his first stage win in his début Giro, and the maglia rosa from Puccio, who lost seven minutes. rider Cadel Evans led home a sixteen-rider select group sixteen seconds behind, ahead of Hesjedal.
Stage 3 result RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 16" 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.General classification after stage 3 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 17" 3 + 17" 4 + 26" 5 + 31" 6 + 31" 7 + 34" 8 + 36" 9 + 36" 10 + 37"
Stage 4 7 May 2013 — Policastro Bussentino to Serra San Bruno,
The race continued to make its way along the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, heading southwards to the southernmost point of the 2013 Giro d'Italia with the finish in Serra San Bruno. With a parcours of , the fourth stage was also the second longest of the entire race, with only the thirteenth stage involving a longer day in the saddle. The stage was predominantly flat, with only the final quarter of the stage involving sizable shifts in altitude, with two categorised climbs as part of the parcours, for the second day in succession. The third-category Vibo Valentia climb was slow and progressional, as it averaged only 3% over , before the second-category Croce Ferrata. Incorporating the second intermediate sprint at Soriano Calabro, the climb itself was long, and reached a maximum gradient of 10%. A descent of almost followed towards the finish in Serra San Bruno, with most of the final kilometre being run on cobblestones.