The 6th stage brings the riders to the historical Roman city of Chieti. To get to the finish after 167 kilometres, a few laps at a circuit have to be cycled, with 4 ascends of the Madonna degli Angeli (3.3km at 7.0%) and 4 ascends of the Madonna del Freddo (3.7km at 5.1%), with the last summit 6 kilometres before the finish. For sure a stage where it is pretty easy to loose time!
73km to go
The BOTD has begun with the local laps and sprints for the KOTM-points at the first ascend of the Madonna degli Agneli. Andrea Moletta (Androni) wins this sprint, followed by Tony Gallopin (Garmin), David Tanner (Qantas), Matteo Busato (Acqua et Sapone), Jelle Wallays (Vacansoleil), Giairo Ermeti (Farnese Vini), Manuel Belletti (BMC) and Ronan van Zandbeek (Rabobank). The peloton follows at 7'18.
55km to go
What was expected, has happened. The peloton has broken in a few pieces, and some of the GC-contenders got surprised. The peloton crests the summit of the Madonna del Freddo 5'28 behind the BOTD, with a group with Peter Velits, Cadel Evans, JoaquÃm RodrÃguz and Samuel Sánchez at 6'45.
42km to go
Because of the rain, a lot of riders have problems with staying on their bikes. Jurgen Van den Broeck is the most important riders that crashes. At this point in the race (42km to go), the situation is as follows: the BOTD still in the lead, at 3'49 followed by a peloton of 33 riders including our main riders. A 2nd group with Evans, Velits, RodrÃguez, Valverde, Löfkvist. Basso, Anton and Rujano follows at 4'53 and Van den Broeck at 7'00.
24km to go
The BOTD arrives at the summit of the last ascend of the Madoona degli Angeli. Due to other teams not willing to work hard to keep the 2nd group behind, that group returns to our group.
6km to go
With a hilly final like today, attacks out of the BOTD are expected. But only 1 rider manages to crest the summit solo, namely Tony Gallopin. The French Garmin-rider has a margin of 36 seconds to the peloton, meaning he has to descend like Savoldelli in his best days.
Weve set a high pace in the peloton with the goal of preventing attacks. Brajkovic tried it once, but hadn't got the power in his legs.
2km to go
The descend is done and Galopin has arroved in the streets of Chieti. But the peloton is closing in rapidly. Scarponi and Nibali have started the sprint, while Peter Sagan is about to get launched by his final lead out man Wilco Kelderman. But some pink thunder is moving it's way forward.....
Finish
This is such an unbelievable display of power..... Edvald Boasson Hagen leaves everybody behind, eating his dust and takes his 3rd stage win with a hugh, huge advantage over Sagan. Taaramäe edges out Kelderman for the 3rd place, and 8 bonus seconds, by a few inches.
Almost all of the GC-contenders finish in the first group of 48 riders, except Peter Velits (+ 2'25) and Jurgen Van den Broeck and Cadel Evans (+ 4'16, and this will be the last you'll hear about Evans as a GC-contender in this Giro).
Results
1
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Dexia
4h29'25
2
Peter Sagan
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
3
Rein Taaramäe
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
4
Wilco Kelderman
Petronas - Monster Energy
s.t.
5
Vincenzo Nibali
Radio Shack - Nissan
s.t.
6
Michele Scarponi
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
7
Dario Cataldo
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
8
Tony Gallopin
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
9
Bruno Pires
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
10
Marek Rutkiewicz
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
GC
1
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Dexia
21h35'03
2
Peter Sagan
Petronas - Monster Energy
+ 26
3
Wilco Kelderman
Petronas - Monster Energy
+ 34
4
Janez Brajkovic
Sky ProCycling
+ 54
5
Thomas Löfkvist
Sony Ericsson
+ 58
6
Bauke Mollema
BMC Racing Team
+ 1'02
7
Vincenzo Nibali
Radio Shack - Nissan
+ 1'05
8
Michele Scarponi
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
9
Bruno Pires
Saxo Bank SunGard
+ 1'11
10
Dario Cataldo
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
+ 1'14
Points
1
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Dexia
106
2
Peter Sagan
Petronas - Monster Energy
83
3
Wilco Kelderman
Petronas - Monster Energy
59
4
John Degenkolb
Sony Ericsson
37
5
Javier Iriarte
Movistar Team
28
KOTM
1
Tony Gallopin
Garmin - Barracuda
15
2
Manuele Mori
Lampre - Alitalia
8
3
Jelle Wallays
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
8
4
Andrea Moletta
Androni Giocattoli
8
5
Giairo Ermeti
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
7
U25
1
Peter Sagan
Petronas - Monster Energy
21h35'29
2
Wilco Kelderman
Petronas - Monster Energy
+ 8
3
Rasmus Guldhammer
Saxo Bank SunGard
+ 54
4
Tom Slagter
Rabobank Cycling Team
+ 1'11
5
Luke Rowe
Qantas Airways
+ 3'34
Teams
1
Katusha Team
64h45'21
2
Saxo Bank SunGard
+ 34
3
Petronas - Monster Energy
+ 2'46
4
Sony Ericsson
+ 5'35
5
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
+ 5'36
Today's Winner
Word from the DS
We did all we could do today to shred the peloton to pieces. But without the help of other teams, it was a waste of energy. Hagen is extremely strong, we need mountains to stop him from winning more stages. And I feel sorry for Sagan, getting 2nd for the 3rd time....
Jesus, EBH became a monster, hopefully he can follow up irl like here too
Anyway, great riding by the team so far. Wilco put himslef into great position already, and well Sagan is doing all he can. Good luck for the next stages.
As some group of addicts, the peloton rushes back to the Adriatic Sea. The 7th stage, 176km, finishes in the Marche, in the town of Porto Recanati. The route is flat, so a mass sprint is expected.
Finish
Today we want to try a different strategy. We won't set up our own sprint train, but Peter Sagan is ordered to follow Edvald Boasson Hagen. He does a perfect job untill 5km before the finish. Without obvious reason, he looses the whel of the Norwegian and finds himsefl in 15 position when the sprint starts.
Trying to make up as many places as possible, he crosses the line in a disappointing 12th stage, seeing the pink jersey throwing the armes in the air again. 4 stage wins in 7 stages......
Results
1
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Dexia
3h56'39
2
Mark Renshaw
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Tyler Farrar
Garmin - Barracuda
s.t.
4
Enrico Rossi
Alitalia
s.t.
5
Theo Bos
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step
s.t.
6
Ben Swift
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
7
Denis Galimzyanov
Katusha Team
s.t.
8
Leigh Howard
Pro Team Astana
s.t.
9
John Degenkolb
Sony Ericsson
s.t.
10
Michael Matthews
Qantas Airways
s.t.
Today's Winner
Word from the DS
Plan B didn't work out, so back to plan A. But EBH seems to be unbeatable in sprints....
Stage 9 is classified as a hilly stage, but the hills are pretty easy. The finish awaits in Cagli, still in the Marche.
Finish
For the 2nd time in this Giro, a breakaway wins the stage. Javier Iriarte (Movistar) is very, very close to win his 2nd stage in 4 days. He leads the sprint of a group of 10 untill 100 metres before the finish, but gets passed by Mirko Lorenzetto. Lorenzetto takes his 4th win of the season, making the Giro succesful for his Acqua et Sapone-team. The peloton finishes at 1'30 and all important riders (yes, even Cadel Evans!) are in it.
For the riders with GC-ambitions, the Giro starts today, even though it's the 9th stage. It's the first mountain stage with the difficult part waiting in the last 28 kilometres. After the start in Cagli, the riders face a not that difficult route with 2 minor climbs, before arriving at the foot of the Passo di Cantoniera (9.6km at 6.6%, summit 19km before the finish). After a short descend, the horrible steep Monte Carpegna has to be climbed. The climb is 6.0 kilometres long and has an average gradient of 9.8%. The maximum gradient is 15%. At the summit, a 8.5km extremely technical descend awaits before the finish in Carpegna.
Then a shock of horror goes through the cycling fans and the peloton, as the pink jersey of Edvald Boasson Hagen hits the tarmac on the wet and slippery roads. The Norwegian can finish the stage, but will definitely loose the GC-lead.
24km to go
The riders have started the penultimate climb of the day, the Passo di Cantoniera. Basso and Aru have joined the BOTD, and together with Sicard, Pinotti, Rabottini, Bonnafond, Moletta, Taborre, Borchi and Bazayev, they have a margin of 1'24 to the peloton. Cadel Evans attacks for the 2nd time today, and he gets countered by GC's number 4 Janez Brajkovic. Also Mikel Landa (Euskaltel) and Van den Broeck counter.
22km to go
These 4 join the 10 leaders, and when they have a gap of almost a minute, Michele Scarponi attacks out of the chasing peloton, where the pace is done by Petronas - Monster Energy and Radio Shack ) for Nibali). Peter Velits and Bauke Mollema try to counter Scarponi.
19km to go
Ivan Basso is the first rider to arrive at the summit of the Passo di Cantonera. But his margin to a chasing group with Brajkovic, Scarponi, Evans, Sicard, Landa, Mollema and Simon Spilak (Lampre) is only 12 seconds. The peloton with Kelderman, Nibali and Antón follows at 1'07.
13km to go
In the descend towards Carpegna, it almost comes to a fusion between the leading group and the chasing group of favourites. Immediately when the last steep climb begins, Cadel Evans attacks again. Only Basso and Landa are capable of following him. The chasing peloton is only '30 behind, with Kelderman among the first riders of the group.
But Kelderman has chosen the wrong side of the very narrow road and gets blocked a bit by Evans and Mollema, who both are loosing speed. Nibali can overtake them all on the left side of the oad, together with Michele Scarponi. These 2, together with Basso, Rujano and Van den Broeck create a small margin of 20 seconds to the group Kelderman.
8km to go
Nibali is the best climber today, and is the first to crest the summit of the Monte Carpegna. Scarponi is barely able to hang on, while Van den Broeck follows at '43. Kelderman finally got some space, and is now in 4th position at '54. A group with Rujano, Basso, Mollema, Antón, Evans, Spilak, Brajkovic and Taaramäe is 1'26 behind Nibbles.
5km to go
The descend towards Carpegna is extremely dangerous, due to many sharp corners, slippery wet roads and a high gradient. Apparantly, the best descender of them all is a bit afraid to take risks, so Van den Broeck and Kelderman are closing the gap to him and Scarponi.
Finish
Michele Scarponi has the most energy left and sprints to the stage win, in front of Nibali. Kelderman manages to finish in 3rd place in the same time as the winner, thanks to his good sprint, beating Van den Broeck on the line. This means that Wilco Kelderman can go to the podium and wear pink tomorrow! The group Evans, Antón, Brajkovic, Mollema follows at '51. And for those who are interested: Hagen finishes at 20'24.
A moment of not being focused almost costed Kelderman the pink jersey. Let him learn from it, because these 2 Italians won't let him close the gap again! Tomorrow is the ITT of 36km. It'll be hard to beat Nibali, but he needs to create a bigger gap to Scarponi!
Edvald Boasson Hagen
Rein Taaramäe
Vincenzo Nibali
Tony Gallopin
Bruno Pires
Marek Rutkiewicz
Janez Brajkovic
Thomas Löfkvist
John Degenkolb
Javier Iriarte
Jelle Wallays
Rasmus Guldhammer
Luke Rowe
Katusha Team
Mark Renshaw
Tyler Farrar
Frantisek Rabon
Andreas Dietziker
Maksat Izbasarov
José Rujano
