Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) has completed his mission in the Giro: thanks to his stage win in Naples, he has now won at least 1 stage in all Grand Tours. Refugees Alessandro De Marchi and Simon Clarke seemed to be on their way to victory in the final phase, but they fell silent with the finish in sight. Remco Evenepoel came in safely without any problems.
The 6th stage of the Giro in a nutshell:
- Winner of the day: Game, Set and Mads! Mads Pedersen has grabbed his grand slam in the big rounds. He won the Tour last summer, was a glutton in the Vuelta and is now also doing it in his third consecutive Grand Tour in this Giro. Thanks to his Trek-Segafredo team, who today – just like the past few days – shed a lot of sweat.
- Losers of the day: All cycling enthusiasts awarded Alessandro De Marchi and Simon Clarke a Neapolitan triumph, but they threw it away themselves due to their gambling behavior in the final kilometer.
- Morning: Time for the first full uphill exam. The finish at Campo Imperatore is the first test above 2,000 meters with the harsh weather as an extra opponent.
A nerve-wracking finale with a sour denouement for the 2 escapees
A new sprinter’s chance or a get-together between a few baroueurs? The outward and return journey between Napoli apparently soon fell in the direction of the first group.
A quintet with Simon Clarke and Alessandro De Marchi got about five minutes, but due to 2 climbs, some technical descents and numerous passages through the narrow village centers along the Amalfi coast, the peloton did not let itself be lulled to sleep.
Mark Cavendish and Arne Marit had not survived the crash of Ineos on one of the hills after a fall, the other fast men remained on board.
Clarke and De Marchi – the remaining strongholds – seemed like a bird to the cat, but in the peloton they had been playing poker just a little too long.
Trek-Segafredo, DSM and Bahrain Victorious took their responsibility, other teams watched the cat out of the tree.
They chose Arne Marit and Mark Cavendish.
In a twisty final full of narrows and bends, the nervousness grew even more due to the bad luck of Primoz Roglic and Geraint Thomas, but the gap crumbled too slowly.
The leading duo had the cards in their own hands, but the poker in the final kilometer broke them up.
They were outflanked 300 meters from the finish. Shame, but they can blame themselves for this.
Fernando Gaviria fired his bullet very early, Mads Pedersen went on and over the Colombian bait after a blood-curdling final.
Pedersen: “It’s a pity for those two guys, but I’m happy of course”
Mads Pedersen was one of the 6 riders who could complete his triptych of stage victories in the Grand Tours in this Giro. “That was what we came here for. I have that victory in my pocket.”
“It was very close at the end. All sprinter teams had to use all their pawns to bring back the escapees. Too bad for those guys, but of course I’m happy with my victory.”
Pedersen had to clean his toes in the end to get Fernando Gaviria back. “That was still difficult, indeed. I was lucky that he was the first to go, so I could chase him.”
