For the second consecutive day the breakaway that formed in the latter half of the course prevailed at the Giro d’Italia, Pelayo Sánchez taking Thursday’s Giro d’Italia stage raced on some of the white gravel roads of Tuscany used in Strade Bianche. In the biggest win of his career, Movistar’s Sánchez beat Julian Alaphilippe in a three-man sprint. Tadej Pogačar stayed safe in pink.
The Course
Wednesday’s stage, in which a four-man breakaway that formed in the second half of the race defied the peloton and gave Cofidis its first win of the entire season via Benjamin Thomas, whet the appetite for Thursday’s action. After a flat start, Stage 6 featured 11.6 km of gravel in the final third of 177 km. The Cat. 4 Grotti climb itself is gravel and has ramps up to 14 percent. With 5 km to go the Serre di Rapulano wall, around 800 meters and reaching slopes up to 20 percent, promised to crack more riders. There was a 6 percent rise to the line.
After three more or less flat stages, the scenery changes at the #Giro for stage 6.
Running from Torre del Lago Puccini to Rapolano Terme, the day will see the famous white roads make an appearance on the 180km course, promising to spice up the fight for victory. pic.twitter.com/tZJAfmmTCP
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) May 9, 2024
Before the start Israel-Premier Tech announced that Stage 5 crashers Michael Woods and Riley Pickrell both abandoned the race due to the concussion protocol. The team lost three riders in two days.
Sad news this morning with @rusty_woods unable to start @giroditalia stage 6 😢
“𝘐’𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘰 𝘥’𝘐𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦… pic.twitter.com/fCKkfygwPk
— Israel – Premier Tech (@IsraelPremTech) May 9, 2024
Back luck clearly comes in threes: @RileyPickrell will also not start today’s @giroditalia stage 😢
“𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰. 𝘐…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…