FLORENCE, Italy  From afar, the peloton preparing for a mass sprint looks like a living, breathing creature. Within the swarm of cyclists, each rider jockeys for position.

Near the end of Stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia on Friday, the riders looked to the left, then to the right. They checked over their shoulders. They set their sights ahead of them, and they were off on what was expected to be the final major sprint finish of this three-week race.

Yet the stories that unfold in such fleeting moments tend to live on.

Mark Cavendish, a rider for Team Columbia-Highroad who turned 24 on Thursday, had already won two individual stages of the Giro. At least twice during the race, he has done what sprinters in any sport are apt to do: He talked trash to his rivals.

Also in the scrum was Alessandro Petacchi, an Italian sprinter for the LPR Brakes-Farnese Vini team who has been attempting to feud with Tyler Farrar, a Garmin-Slipstream rider.