Pascal Ackermann sprinted to third place on the sixth stage of the 106th Giro d'Italia.
The rider from the Palatinate, who won two stages and the points classification in the world's second biggest tour four years ago, was only beaten by the Danish winner Mads Pedersen and the Italian Jonathan Milan in a bunch sprint on Thursday after 162 kilometres with start and finish in Naples.
Meanwhile, world road cycling champion Remco Evenepoel seems to have coped well with the two painful crashes from the previous day and reached the finish without losing any time. The pink jersey continues to be worn by the Norwegian Andreas Leknessund, 28 seconds ahead of Evenepoel.
The young Belgian star was first brought down by a dog on Wednesday and then hit again shortly before the finish. "I have pain in my back and some big bruises. I have a big black spot on my back made up of blood," said the 23-year-old, who however reassured: "That's life, that's cycling. We have to deal with it. I slept well that night."
First mountain finish coming up
On Friday, however, the first mountain finish in Gran Sasso d'Italia at 2130 metres above sea level will show whether the big favourite is really in full possession of his strength. That's also when the German hopeful for the fringe, Lennard Kämna, will have to prove himself. After a bumpy opening time trial, the former junior world champion is currently 1:54 minutes behind Leknessund in the overall standings.
In contrast to the previous day, the field was spared any spectacular crashes on Thursday in dry conditions. However, the poor road conditions repeatedly led to defects. Olympic time trial champion Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) and the British former Tour winner Geraint Thomas were also affected.
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