‘We aimed to surprise everyone ‘ – Crosswind action livens up Giro d’Italia Women stage 6, but the sprinters still succeed

At first glance, stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia looked to be a normal sprint stage, a welcome respite after two hard days in the mountains. However, crosswinds livened up the race, splitting the field into several groups, even if that failed to stop the sprinters from claiming the stage as Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) raced to her fourth victory.

With 64km to go, Uno-X Mobility used the passage through Volta Mantovana, with narrow streets, a brief uphill, and a short but steep, winding descent, to string out the peloton, then split it into several groups in the crosswinds that followed. Several of the GC contenders were caught out and had to work hard to close the gaps again.