Pelayo Sanchez (Movistar) has celebrated the biggest success of his career by winning stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia over 180 kilometres between Viareggio and Rapolano Terme. The 24-year-old Spaniard, who is in his first season on the World Tour, had the best legs in the sprint of a group of three and relegated Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) to second place in the final metres. The Frenchman, who has recently been criticised for his lack of performance, was back in the form of previous years. Luke Plapp (Team Jayco-AlUla) finished third.
It was the Australian road and time trial champion who had initiated the trio in the second gravel sector of the day a good 40 kilometres before the finish, after he had blown up four other members of a former breakaway group that had only formed 100 kilometres after the start with an attack in the uphill section of the dusty roads. The entire time before that, attack after attack was made at an average speed of more than 50 km/h in the first one and a half hours of the race, without any riders being able to break away permanently. This only happened on the first climb of the day or shortly afterwards, when it became confusing and there were many small groups on the road.
Stage winner Sanchez overwhelmed: "Couldn't imagine winning here"
"I haven't even realised what I've achieved here," said Sanchez after his third victory as a professional shortly after crossing the finish line. "It was a crazy day for me. Since the start of the Giro I've been trying to save my energy for this day. I made it into the group, but I still couldn't imagine winning here. Then we worked well together. I also tried to leave my companions behind, but I wasn't strong enough for that. I then tried again in the sprint and luckily I was the best," said the overwhelmed man from Asturias.
Alaphilippe was also satisfied at the finish, but also a little disappointed. "I can be happy with the race, but of course it's also annoying to lose so narrowly," said the 31-year-old. "He (Sanchez) put in a perfect sprint, so there's nothing to regret. That wasn't my last chance here at this Giro," said Alaphilippe, showing his fighting spirit.
No changes in the overall standings
There were no changes in the overall standings within the top 10, although the high pace of Ineos Grenadiers in the gravel sectors in particular caused the peloton to break up into several parts time and again, and even the favourites in the classification were sometimes not quite at the front with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers). Bora captain Daniel Felipe Martinez, among others, was temporarily behind due to a crash, but as the pace was always slowed down after the sectors, everyone came together again.
Pogacar is therefore still in pink ahead of the time trial on stage 7. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) continues to lead the points classification, while Lilian Calmejane (Intermarche-Wanty) continues to wear the mountains jersey on Pogacar's behalf. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) remains the best young pro for at least another day.
Giro d'Italia 2024: Results - the top 10 of stage 6
- Pelayo Sanchez (Movistar) 4:01:08
- Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:00
- Luke Plapp (Team Jayco-AlUla) +0:01
- Andrea Piccolo (EF Education EasyPost) +0:24
- Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:29
- Luka Mezgec (Team Jayco-AlUla) +0:29
- Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:29
- Nick Schultz (Israel-Premier Tech) +0:29
- Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:29
- Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) +0:29
The current standings in the overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 23:20:52
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:46
- Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:47
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:55
- One Rubio (Movistar) +0:56
- Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +1:07
- Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek) +1:11
- Jan Hirt (Soudal - Quick Step) +1:13
- Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +1:26
- Esteban Chaves (EF Education EasyPost) +1:26
How the 6th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2024 went
High-speed start to the sixth day of the Giro. The first 70 kilometres were completely flat and mainly offered a tailwind. There were also countless attacks. There were constant attacks, but a group was unable to break away until the foot of the eight-kilometre climb up to Volterra. Until then, the average speed was 51.5 kilometres per hour.
A trio finally broke away in the mountains. Alaphilippe, Aurelien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Filippo Fiorelli (VG Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizane), who won the mountain classification of the 4th category, gained almost 20 seconds. But that didn't last long. A larger group of around 25 riders joined them from behind. Among them was Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), while other sprinters like Milan or Tim Merlier (Soudal - Quick Step) rode in scattered groups behind Pogacar's pink jersey.
After 100 kilometres: Seven men form the group of the day
The small peloton at the front then exploded again. A sextet broke away, which - after 100 kilometres - formed the group of the day. Alaphilippe, Groves and Fiorelli were joined by Plapp, Matteo Trentin (Tudor) and Sanchez. A few kilometres later, Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) joined them as a lone rider from behind. The lead grew to over two minutes and the race situation stabilised.
With 60 kilometres to go, the lead had grown to three minutes. A few sprinters caught up with the peloton from behind, but not all of them were back at this point. The first gravel sector came after ten kilometres. In dry and warm weather, it was extremely dusty, but the leaders and the peloton made good progress. However, the septet at the front quickly lost ground.
In the second sector, which followed shortly afterwards, there was also a climb of up to six per cent. There, Plapp, Alaphilippe and Sanchez broke away from their companions. The Frenchman came out of the sector in first place and secured the second mountain classification (4th category). The peloton was one and a half minutes behind the leaders at the end of the sector, but had once again shrunk considerably.
Top trio makes it over the final hill and to the finish line
However, the gaps between the groups subsequently grew again. With 25 kilometres to go, Alaphilippe, Plapp, who had just won the Intergiro classification, and Sanchez had a good minute on their first chasers, while the peloton was again two and a half minutes behind. As they entered the final sector with 18 kilometres to go, the chasers were caught by the peloton, again led by Inoes. After the sector, the leaders only had a lead of 70 seconds.
Five kilometres before the finish, the trio had a good minute left. But there was one last short climb waiting, which was up to 20 per cent steep. With 20 seconds, the leaders went over the hill into a slight descent and then onto the final kilometre, which was again slightly uphill. Plapp led the trio close to the finish, with Alaphilippe on his wheel 200 metres before the line to open the sprint. However, Sanchez was able to follow the attack and overtake the Frenchman. Piccolo finished fourth, breaking away from the peloton shortly after the final hill, which was led to the finish by Narvaez.
