2017 Giro d’Italia: Stage 6 Results

Silvan Dillier claimed the first UCI WorldTour and first Grand Tour stage win of his career when he sprinted to victory from the breakaway on stage 6 of the 2017 Giro d’Italia.

Dillier battled for the victory against Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) and Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), the remaining three riders of the original five-rider group, in a tough 1.5km uphill finish to Terme Luigiane.

As soon as the flagged drop to signal the start of the 217km stage, Dillier had a flat tire and was forced to chase the peloton for 10km, just in time to make his way back through the bunch and chase down the breakaway.

The five riders forged on and quickly gained an advantage of more than eight minutes as they tackled the first categorized climb of the day.

By the time the race entered the final 100km the advantage had come down to 5’40” but despite an increase in pace from the peloton, the breakaway continued to stay in front.

Approaching the final 25km, Dillier’s group still had a three-minute advantage and as they hit the final categorized Fuscaldo climb, Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Simone Andreetta (Bardiani CSF) both dropped.

Stuyven attacked over the summit but Dillier and Pöstlberger were able to follow his wheel and stick together down the tricky hairpin descent that would lead the trio into the finale.

Aware of the peloton closing in, the trio kept a high pace and as they rode under the flamme rouge they began to look at each other, waiting for the first attack.

It was a stalemate until the final 250m when Dillier launched his sprint from the third position and managed to hold on, despite Stuyven chasing hard, to take the biggest win of his career.

“For sure it is the biggest victory so far for me,” Dillier said after the race. “I can’t describe it. It’s fantastic. Actually how I did it, I do not know. I know when it is a hard sprint, I have power, I can push a big gear. I just tried to believe in myself and try to find some more energy. I could finish it in the end. I was chasing for a victory for almost two years now and it’s unbelievable that I get this one today. I had some nice victories and moments before, but this is for sure the biggest.”

The loss was a hard one for a dejected Jesper Stuyven, who with teammate Mads Pedersen instigated the five-man breakaway and threw everything they had into the effort for over 200 kilometers only to be edged in the final uphill meters.

“They always say that if you are close, it will come, but there are not that many opportunities; you have to take them when they are there,” said a dejected Stuyven. “It didn’t happen today, and that is actually pretty sh**t,” he added, not mincing words on his feeling.

Bob Jungels holds onto Maglia Rosa

Quick-Step Floors’ Bob Jungels crossed with the peloton in eighth place to comfortably hold his grasp on the leader’s jersey for the third day.

“Having a breakaway with no rider posing any danger to the general classification was the perfect situation for us. We were hoping the escape will go all the way, so that they mop up the bonus seconds. In the peloton, all I had to do was keep a close eye on my opponents in the closing kilometers, which worked out well. So far, it’s been a great race for us, we have pink, white and ciclamino, and we’ll continue enjoying these moments”, explained Jungels in Terme Luigiane.

2017 Giro d’Italia Stage 6 Brief Results:

1. Silvan Dillier (Switzerland / BMC Racing) 4:58:01″
2. Jasper Stuyven (Belgium / Trek) ST
3. Lukas Poestlberger (Austria / BORA) +12″
4. Simone Andreetta (Italy / Bardiani Valvole) +26″
5. Michael Woods (Canada / Cannondale) +39″
6. Adam Yates (Britain / Orica)
7. Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands / Sunweb)
8. Bob Jungels (Luxembourg / Quick-Step)
9. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek)
10. Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky)
11. Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Movistar)
12.  Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain)
13. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands / Sunweb)
14. Steven Kruijswijk (Netherlands / LottoNL)
15. Andrey Amador (Costa Rica / Movistar)
16. Davide Formolo (Italy / Cannondale)
17. Thibaut Pinot (France / FDJ)
18. Patrick Konrad (Austria / BORA)
19. Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R)
20. Dylan Teuns (Belgium / BMC Racing)

2017 Giro d’Italia General Classification After Stage 6:

1. Bob Jungels (Luxembourg / Quick-Step) 28:20:47″
2. Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky) +6″
3. Adam Yates (Britain / Orica) +10″
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain)
5. Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R)
6. Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Movistar)
7. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands / Sunweb)
8. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek)
9. Tejay van Garderen (U.S. / BMC Racing)
10. Andrey Amador (Costa Rica / Movistar)