Stage 6 of the 2023 Giro d’Italia looked to come down to a two-man sprint between Simon Clarke and Alessandro De Marchi, who lead the race from early on, but a catch at 200m saw the race come down to a bunch sprint. Ultimately, it was a win for Mads Pedersen (TFS) in Napoli.
While this is Pedersen’s 30th professional win, it’s the first time he’s won at the Giro. He’s the first rider to win a stage at three consecutive Grand Tours since Tom Dumoulin (Vuelta 2015, Giro 2016, Tour 2016).
Stage 6 of the 2023 Giro d’Italia opened under sunny skies with Andreas Leknessund of Team DSM in a solid hold on the Maglia Rosa over a battered Remco Evenepoel, who seemed to find every crash in Wednesday’s rainy stage. No rain on the radar today, just a wavy stage that winds itself around Vesuvius before reaching the shoreline and following the Amalfi coast all the way to Sorrento.
The race saw its first COVID related abandonment this morning as Area-Smasic’s Clement Russo left for home. I’m sure it won’t be the last.
Battered though he may be, Evenepoel took some time to show off his footie skills before the start of the race.
A little bit of classic Napoli-style pizza before hitting the road? Why not.
As we tuned in to the race this morning, a lead group of Alexandre Delettre (COF), Francesco Gavazzi (EOK), Simon Clarke (IPT), Charlie Quarterman (COR), and Alessandro De Marchi (JAY) were more than 5 minutes up on the maglia rosa group after 56km of racing. Alessandro Verre (ARK) was sitting 90 seconds back in no-man’s land trying to bridge to the leaders.
It’s expected to be another day for the sprinters. Mark Cavendish won here 10 years ago on the same finish line and would love to repeat his victory, but might be a little stiff today after yesterday’s finish line crash.
INEOS Grenadiers were driving the pace in the peloton to a less than leisurely 42.5km/h. Cavendish and Fernando Gaviria (MOV) were both seen struggling to stay with the gruppo.
With 86km remaining, the leaders were up by 3’45”. Soon after, Verre gave up the chase and rejoined the peloton.
The Category 3 Capo di Mondo was now looming on the horizon. As the riders come off the summit of that climb, they’ll have 66km to go and the pace is certain to ramp up even higher.
Cavendish continued to struggle, dragging more than 2 minutes behind the caravan.
With 63km to go, Clarke and De Marchi had managed to escape the rest of the break, leaving the other three riders over a minute back. Clarke & De Marchi may be going for the sprint points, but I don’t think anyone was expecting them to stay clear to the finish.
Clarke & De Marchi continued to gap the chasing trio, opening up to a 2’36” lead with 50km remaining.
As the race entered the final 35 kilometers, Delettre, Gavazzi, and Quarterman gave up the chase and the peloton was definitely ramping up the chase. As the leaders went under the 30km flag, the peloton was 2’20” back.
20km to go and Clarke & DeMarchi still lead by 1’36”. A little excitement because Clarke would complete a Grand Tour stage win trilogy if he was able to win today.
As they re-enter the narrow streets of the city center of Napoli, the leaders can be a little more daring than the peloton.
Primoz Roglic was seen catching back on after a mechanical, and Geraint Thomas was also plagued by difficulties and was chasing to reconnect with the peloton.
Hope increased for Clarke & DeMarchi as they still enjoyed a 32″ second lead with just 3km to go, but the lead evaporated quickly, down to just 15 seconds with a kilometer to go. The surging peloton caught the clearly tired leaders with 200m to go.
“In the end, all the teams used what the resources they had,” Pedersen said in the post-race press conference. “Luckily we managed to catch De Marchi and Clarke, but it was an organized chase today. The team is built around me so I have to give something back and I’m happy with what I’ve done today. The landscapes and the roads were super beautiful. If you can’t see that, even in the middle of a race, it means that you are blind. It was a technical route and we rode fast on a brand new pavement but yet I managed to admire the coast. It was a lovely day and our pace was pretty smooth. I’m definitely not going for the stage win tomorrow. We first have to take care of the team as we burned a few matches today. Then we’ll look at the road book to target another stage win. Right now, I’m just happy with the victory we came for.”
The Maglia Rosa Andreas Leknessund said: “At night I sleep well. On the bike it feels special to have the Maglia Rosa. I enjoyed it very much today with the scenery. It was a really nice day, I liked every moment. Today I felt more confident. I’m getting more space in the bunch. In the end I also have to pedal but I had good legs. There were lots of people cheering for us so it took me a long time before I could stop for personal needs. I didn’t hear my name much but I heard “Maglia Rosa” many times! I don’t know the Gran Sasso. I’ll prepare for tomorrow with the gradients and all other info regarding this climb. My goal is to keep the jersey till the time trial on Sunday. I know it’ll be hard but I’ll give my best. I really like racing here. There’s a nice passion for cycling in Italy.”
Stage 6 Brief Results:
- Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) in 3h44’45”
- Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) s.t.
- Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
- Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) s.t.
- Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) s.t.
- Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) s.t.
- Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo-Kometa) s.t.
- Marius Mayrhofer (Team DSM) s.t.
- Lorenzo Rota (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) s.t.
- Simone Velasco (Astana Qazaqstan) s.t.
General Classification After Stage 6:
- Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) 22h50’48”
- Remco Evenpoel (Soudal Quick Step) @ 28″
- Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën) @ 30″
- Joao Almeida (Team UAE) @ 1’00”
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) @ 1’12”
Jerseys:
- Maglia Rosa, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by Enel – Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM)
- Maglia Ciclamino, leader of the Points Classification, sponsored by Agenzia ICE with the brand Madeinitaly.gov.it – Jon
athan Milan (Bahrain – Victorious) - Maglia Azzurra, leader of the Gran Premio della Montagna, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum – Thibaut Pinot (Groupama – FDJ)
- Maglia Bianca, Best Young Rider, sponsored by Intimissimi Uomo – Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM)
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