Welcome back to the Giro d'Italia, it's day number six and we've just left behind the Apennines for the moment. After three stages with medium difficulty, we'll have an easy one on the menu today - with some hills nonetheless to not let the climbing legs completely cool down.
After everyone crossed the finish line yesterday, the riders took the same road downhill for the first part, then heading a little further South to arrive at today's starting venue, Montecatini Terme. As the name says pretty clearly, this town hosts one of the most well-known spas around, with tourism hence being among the most important economic sectors in the region. About 20,000 people live here, whereof many are employed in one of more than 200 hotels around.
We're pretty sure that most riders enjoyed the spa yesterday after the race, having just completed the first mountain stage. Today, they will head back to the sea - but no longer to Liguria, but to Tuscany. Stage 6 will end in Castiglione della Pescaia, vis-Ã -vis of the Elba island. And - you guessed it - it's another popular seaside resort, although just around 7,000 people live here. Built around a medieval fortress, it's clear that having a sight of those ancient stones is the main thing to do here besides bathing. And there's the natural reserve Diaccia Botrona, a swampy environment where you can observe some flamingoes.
Maybe some riders will take the time to enjoy the region's wildlife, but first they have some work to do! Just about half the altitude gain they had in the last few days, but it's still 1,300 meters - as we said, it's a sprinter stage, but one preventing the climbing legs to completely cool down. Whereas the stage is flat for most of the 177 kilometers, there's still a section crossing the Colline Metallifere, the "metal-bearing hills", where we'll have a steady up-and-down for about 50 kilometers.
The first of these hills is actually the longest ascent and hence the only KoM sprint of today's stage, in the village of Pomarance, which will be reached after 88.3km. As it's only a category 4 sprint, the only thing that could happen here would be one of the co-leaders in the KoM standings claiming the exclusive lead.
After some more climbing and descending, the riders will reach the intermediate sprint in Massa Marittima 40 kilometers later, from where a final descent and about 40km of flat roads will be left.
But despite the profile being not too hard, we might have a new element making for a difficult stage today - the wind, blowing currently at 36km/h from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian sea - or from East to West, for those who haven't followed Tirreno - Adriatico in terms of geography.
So this stage will even more favor the sprinter teams with a lot of strong flat riders - but it might catch by surprise some climbers who are weaker on the flat. Let's see if that wind has some impact - it will definitely not favor yet another breakaway success, whereof we had three in a row now.
And before we finally jump into the action, let's take a look at the bookies' favorites once again. The list has a lot of similarities with the one from stage 2 - obviously, as the top sprinters are still the same. Kennaugh and Demare should stand above the rest; the bookmakers decided to give three stars as well to Van Poppel today.
Eislers, stage 2 winner Appollonio and first Maglia Rosa of the race, Hsu, come next on the list, with Afewerki, Goss, Granjel Cabrera and Meyer rounding off the Top 10. In terms of Maglia Ciclamino, both Demare and Appollonio have a great chance of taking this jersey, being 21 and 22 points down in the standings - and 50 points on offer for the stage winner. Let's see!
The riders are lined up in Montecatini Terme - let's get this stage started!
That didn't take long today! Setiawa attacks soon after the start line, followed by Bayly.
We said that yesterday's stage wasn't the optimal one for Nych to attack - today, it is! So maybe yesterday was just a warm-up for him?
He is followed by - no, not Fedeli for once, but it's Sajnok who tries today!
Mullen then tries to double the numbers for Polar, chasing after Rajapakshage and Daniel.
Serrano and Holmes try to join them, but Blums and Madouas don't approve this attack.
Hofstede joins them in the chase, and he gets back Holmes - whereas Serrano just had that small gap allowing him to stay clear. For now, at least.
More attacks follow a little later - actually, we have already covered 20 kilometers - and this time it's Frison joined by Gamper. Arif Prayogo, Holmes again, Clarke and Gabburo are trying their luck, too - but Aranburu is alread on the Italian's wheel, not allowing him to get away.
Finally, Madouas and Leung close the gap - but at the same time have left behind the pack as well, as they were just chasing too hard! As soon as they notice, they stop their move, allowing Frison and Gamper to get some meters again.
But a little later, Madouas catches them definitively, this time pulling the whole pack with him. You can already see now the impact of the wind, with the riders lined up one after the other. For now, they've got enough energy to stay inside the line - but what will happen on the closing kilometers?
Let's take a look up front, where the first seven attackers have regrouped in the meantime. We have Mullen, Nych, Daniel, Setiawa, Rajapakshage, Sajnok and Bayly up front, with Serrano trailing by 55". The pack is two minutes down.
They're not riding too fast, as they probably don't want to get everyone tired too soon. For those leading the pack, it must be energy-sapping, though, with these strong crosswinds. Madouas still leads the pack, ahead of Clarke and Hofstede.
Another look at the head of the race shows that nothing has changed - Serrano just doesn't manage to close that one-minute gap. The seven men up front are riding really, really slowly, as is the peloton - but the Spaniard seems to be too exhausted already to catch up with them.
Anyway, with the pack trailing by more than three minutes, it's pretty safe to assume that we have found our breakaway of the day. Let's see what types of riders we have up front today.
What sticks out most is the Polar duo of Nych and Mullen, who both are really strong on the flat. The former additionally has the best acceleration of all riders within the group, while the latter has the best resistance.
Daniel then is a strong flat rider, too, but he absolutely can't sprint. His resistance could however enable him to do a long-range attack - but even this would seem to be quite a hopeless move agains the Polar duo.
Bayly's main strength is definitely in uphill terrain, so he might to try tiring out all the others on the hilly part. Being the second-strongest sprinter could help him in the finale, too.
When speaking of sprint, we definitely have to mention Sajnok, who is clearly the strongest in this discipline. If he can keep up in the uphill parts and hold on until the end - despite being among the weakest on the flat in this group - he should be the big favorite.
Rajapakshage is pretty fast on the flat, too, although he can't keep up with the Polar duo or with Daniel. He will need something special to win, though, as he probably don't even know how to spell "sprint".
And finally, there's Setiawa, whose main strength should be in the hilly sections. Sprinting won't be an option for him - but as he is clearly the weakest member on the flat, he can't try a late attack, either. Maybe he can still surprise us?
Let's just take a look at Serrano, too - in case he finally catches up. He'd be the strongest puncheur and second best sprinter, with the best acceleration of all the escapees. However, first he has to get up front, and then he needs to have enough energy left to actually keep up until the end.
And, of course, there's one big enemy of all of them: the peloton, who surely doesn't want to hand out the stage win to the breakaway for the fourth time in a row!
That's a pretty bad moment for a puncture, just a few moments before the peloton starts the sole categorized climb of the day. Let's see if Canty can catch up again.
When speaking of that climb, let's take a look at its profile. Really not a hard one, but still 6 kilometers long. Yet, it would be a surprise if anyone was left behind by the time we'll reach the top.
The escapees have just reached the first slopes of that hill. With still 3 minutes of advantage, we can be pretty sure now that nothing of much interest will happen concerning the KoM standings.
Serrano has lost quite a lot of time by now, trailing by 1'37". The pack is 2'48" down - it's now more likely they will catch Serrano than the Spaniard joining the front group.
Yet another puncture - this time even on the uphill! And it's Bongiorno who needs to get a wheel changed! Fortunately, though, his team car was just behind the pack, so he only loses a few seconds.
By the way, Canty has easily re-joined the pack in the meantime.
With 800m to the top, Rajapakshage launches the sprint for the points. He doesn't have any so far, can he change that?
Yes, he can - but he only gets one tiny point, being outsprinted by Sajnok and Bayly:
Which means that Malecki and Budenieks will share the lead for another day.
Serrano crosses the line 2'20" later, with the pack another minute behind. We definitely don't have the same gaps as yesterday!
What's wrong with those bikes today? A few meters from the top, Novikov has to stop and wait for his team car - unlike Bongiorno a little earlier, he doesn't just lose some seconds while waiting!
He'll probably catch up in the upcoming hilly section, though, being a strong climber.
Clarke and Martin set an end to Serrano's suffering, as he's no longer all alone now. 80 kilometers to go, 3'30" to the front group. Everything is under control, it seems.
The escapees have just reached the highest point of today's stage, led by Rajapakshage. Only two more uphill sections ahead, with 70km to go in total.
Meanwhile, the peloton has slightly accelerated, reducing the gap to 3'06".
A little later, Bayly already leads them over the day's final hilltop, with the descent to the intermediate sprint right ahead!
It's another 10km later now, and the pack has reduced its deficit even more - it's down to 2'48".
And behind the peloton, we have a first rider not keeping up anymore. No, you are (probably) wrong, as today it's Dewulf.
48km to go, as the leaders reach the intermediate sprint in Massa Marittima. Absolutely no-one shows any interest in those points, so they are just distributed in the order they happened to have at that point.
Malecki thus currently retains the lead in the points standings, but with 50 points still on offer, that may well change.
Van der Kooij almost looks like he's sprinting for the points, but this picture just shows that the pack has clearly put the foot on the gas. They cross the sprint line with only 2'12" remaining.
Now, it's one last downhill, followed by 40 flat kilometers - the stage favorites and GC contenders better be aware from now on!
The peloton has reached the end of that final descent, and the gap has shrunk to 1'43". 40 kilometers to go!
We see most of the sprinters and GC contenders well positioned - let's hope they're attentive enough to not lose time in some possible echelons! With the (cross-)wind still blowing at about 30km/h, this could be a real danger!
Just a little more than 20 kilometers to go - and Setiawa decides it's time to make his move! The peloton has dangerously approached on the previous 20 kilometers, trailing by less than a minute now!
And when speaking of the pack - that's a picture some managers will find absolutely horrible! In fact, we have Brenes in second-last position, and Bongiorno just four or five spots ahead! Did the puncture cost the Italian so much energy, or why is he back here?
However, he isn't the only one not well-placed at all; Aru is side-by-side with his compatriot, but Carapaz, Arndt, Faglum Karlsson, Salinas, Kennaugh, Kirsch, Ji, Anacona and sprinter Appollonio aren't much further ahead, either! They'd rather move up fast now, or else... we'll see.
Under the 20km banner, Bayly joins Rajapakshage, with the five others 24" behind. Daniel and Mullen are doing most of the work, with Nych apparently just waiting and Sajnok and Rajapakshage not having much left.
Although, if they want to have a tiny chance, they'd better hurry up, as the peloton is only 33" behind these five!
3 kilometers later, we have all of them bar Mullen - who's caught by the Cavagna - Bystrom express - catching up with the two leaders again. 40" of advantage remaining - that won't be enough.
Let's take another look at the end of the pack, where we still have Brenes and Bongiorno - but they don't even seem to care! However, with the wind blowing from the left - it has now gone up to 39km/h - the shape of the peloton shouldn't actually please them...
Bayly is again on the move, with 15km to go! He's now 17" ahead of the chasers, and still 49" ahead of the pack - which doesn't seem to come that much closer right now!
Uh-oh, now it has happened! The peloton is breaking up!
And lots of riders are on the wrong side of this split - both sprinters and GC contenders! Let's take a look at the most notable names:
Nizzolo
Appollonio
Cullaigh
Afewerki
Bongiorno
Brenes
Faglum Karlsson
Carapaz
Barguil
Arndt
Kennaugh
Aru
Ji
Anacona
Kirsch
Velits
Malecki
Costagli
Izagirre
The gap is small right now - but if they don't react right away, it will surely increase!
And while his world class puncheur teammate Izagirre is caught behind, Nych makes his move with 10 kilometers to go!
Daniel, Rajapakshage, Sajnok, Bayly and Setiawa trail by 17", and the peloton is 38" behind!
There are even more splits, with only 20 riders having made it to the first group this time! Let's see who is on the wrong side this time:
Goss
Hsu
Granjel Cabrera
Meyer
Eislers
Contreras
Van Poppel
Reis
Haig
Schleck
Kritskiy
Amador
Spilak
Valls
Nesset
Talansky
Lots of big names, leaving mainly the top favorites for the sprint, Demare and Kennaugh, up front! Plus Taaramäe and Shikai, for whom this could be a great day!
The pack has grown back to 59 riders - but this was due to having slowed down, meaning Nych still is in the lead with only 5 kilometers remaining! The rest of the escapees are about to be caught by Mager and Major, but the Russian is still leading by 40 seconds!
This shot was taken at the same time - and it shows the sub-par situation for Barguil, Brenes and the likes! All who were caught by that first split are still trailing now, while the ones having missed out on the second split are back up front!
Nych just needs to hold on for 2,500 more meters to get this GT stage win! It's amazing how he's still resisting the pack, making the best possible use of his strong flat capabilities!
52" further behind, the pack is preparing for the sprint as well - but as you'd guess with only 58 riders left, it's all pretty chaotic. Mraouni leads ahead of Vermeltfoort, with Hsu already side-by-side with his leadout Viviani.
Kennaugh is pretty well placed as well, behind Major, whereas Goss is already ahead of Luchshenko. Demare is waiting in about 15th position - his possible leadouts apparently all were used for the chase, no-one left to protect him.
It's the Fiamma Rossa for Nych, who is surely benefitting from the tailwind on the final kilometers, but he's simply putting in a huge, huge ride today! He still has 49" on the pack - this stage must be his!
As the pack reaches this point, Nych is just 600m away from the line! Kennaugh launches a very, very long sprint with 1,200m to go, hoping to somehow catch the Russian!
Alongside him, Vermeltfoort is the first rider of a pretty long queue, consisting of Viviani, Hsu, Luchshenko, Goss, Mraouni, Van Winden, Naud, Danacik, Eislers, Leung and Granjel Cabrera. Contreras is riding to the left of the latter, whereas Van Poppel and Gamper are alongside Mraouni.
Meyer has completely missed this move, with Demare even further behind! What's wrong with the Frenchman? Wake up, boy, the sprinter jersey is at stake!
Artem Nych does not care at all about what's happening behind him, as he simply rides on to win here in Castiglione della Pescaia! What a great day for him and wildcard team Polar! Wow!
To say that the fight for 2nd is wide open would be exaggerated, as that spot seems to be pretty safe for Kennaugh. However, behind the Brit Goss, Vermeltfoort and the team's actual sprinter Van Poppel are fighting for 3rd, with Hsu still in the mix, too. Contreras is quickly closing in as well, while Eislers, Granjel Cabrera and Meyer, who has finally woken up, are looking to fight for lower Top 10 positions only.
It's indeed Peter Kennaugh who takes 2nd place, 25" behind the surprising stage winner.
Goss seems to have the best cards in the fight for the last podium spot, but Van Poppel is moving faster! Contreras, Hsu, Eislers, Meyer, Granjel Cabrera and Gamper (who, please?) are fighting for the next positions.
Further behind, Taaramäe has launched his sprint as well and is the first of the "rest".
Matthew Goss takes the final place on the podium, outsprinting Danny Van Poppel. Emiliano Contreras finishes 5th, while it's a close fight for 6th between Hsu and Eislers!
Hsuan Ping Hsu wins the duel against Ingus Eislers, while Cameron Meyer has to settle for 8th.
Raul Granjel Cabrera sprints to 9th, while surprising Austrian cobbler/TTer (no, definitely not sprinter) Patrick Gamper takes the final Top 10 spot.
Arnaud Demare then narrowly edges out world class sprinters Rein Taaramäe and Kristaps Budenieks for 11th. Don't ask me what happened to him - maybe he just felt more like a puncheur than like a sprinter today? It's another missed opportunity for him - that's starting to get pathetic...
With Andrei Amador, the next GC rider then comes in 14th, ahead of Patrick Naud, Jack Haig, Simon Spilak, Jakub Danacik, Andy Schleck and Martins Blums, who rounds off today's Top 20.
But what's probably much more interesting for some managers is: where is that second group? And how much time will they lose?
Here they are, trying to sprint as fast as they can! They're not far off the last riders of the peloton, who are Valls and Setiawa.
Cosnefroy leads this group across the line, more than 1'30" behind today's stage winner! We'll have to wait for another moment to get the exact times, but that stage will definitely hurt some riders' ambitions!
And it's even worse for Carapaz, who finishes 171st, within one of the last groups, losing more than three minutes to Nych! Fortunately, Volvo still have another leader in Faglum Karlsson - who just finished in the second group, though.
The officials are still counting and calculating, and so we have enough time to wait for the final rider finishing this stage: Stan Dewulf. The Belgian loses over 15 minutes today, but is still easily inside the time limit, which was set to 28'32".
And now, we get notice that the victory ceremony is about to start - where the official results will finally be communicated as well!
And today's winner is... Artem Nych! The Russian was part of a breakaway with very strong flat riders, whereof he was the best. He definitely benefitted from his teammate Mullen's tremendous work, and finally had enough reserves to ride away and fend off the approaching peloton! It's a great win for the PCT rider and his team, congratulations!
Peter Kennaugh on the other hand won't be that happy, especially not with his team's work. It definitely shouldn't happen that the breakaway can defend a two minute gap on 40 flat kilometers - but they did, and so he "only" got the 2nd place today. Moving up a bit in the points standings won't be much of a consolation for him - but at least four more chances for the sprinters are ahead!
3rd place goes to aging star Matthew Goss, who at 34 years is still able to get a GT stage podium. Well done!
And then, we get the subsequent places - and we can already see some red-faced riders and managers, as the judges announce that all riders up to Iino in 163rd place get the time of 2nd placed Kennaugh! They simply act as if those gaps hadn't been there, and especially the teams who worked a lot to create and even increase them are pretty ... let's just say: angry, right now - and I can fully understand them!
When confronted with this anger, the officials just said: "We make the rules, you race. If you don't agree, don't race." Let's see if there will be any consequences to this more than questionable ruling...
But while all these discussions are still ongoing, let's turn back to the podium, and cheer 4-jersey-man Kamil Malecki! The Pole surely didn't have an easy day, arriving inside that 2nd group and hence benefitting from the officials' ruling on the gaps, but at the end of the day, he defends not one, not two, but all of his four jerseys!
In the GC, he still leads 3'48" ahead of Cyril Barthe and with a 9'10" margin on Kristaps Budenieks - which is the exact same order in the U25 standings.
For the Maglia Ciclamino, he clearly benefitted from Demare messing up his sprint and Appollonio not even being there; Kamil Malecki didn't collect any points, and so he still leads with 72 points - but just 6 points ahead of stage winner Artem Nych! The Russian may regret now not having gone for those 10 points at the intermediate sprint, which would have allowed him to take the jersey. He'll wear it anyway tomorrow, in the Pole's stead. In 3rd place, we have Mikel Bizkarra, who couldn't add any points to his 61, either.
We already saw that there's not much movement in the Maglia Azzurra standings, with only one 4th category climb on the menu. Kamil Malecki still co-leads together with Kristaps Budenieks, both totalling 26 points. The Latvian will again wear the jersey tomorrow. Mikel Bizkarra is 3rd in this list as well, still having 18 points.
And you have probably guessed it - Polar did not only retain their lead in the team standings, but thanks to their great stage win even extended it by 25 seconds! They now lead 1'24" ahead of Gazelle and 6'52" ahead of cycleYorkshire.
That's all we have for you from this 6th stage of the Giro d'Italia. We saw the fourth breakaway win in a row - although it was pretty close - and we once again had discussions about gaps, this time even much more than on stage 4. Let's see how the team managers will tackle this problem... Probably they'll just have to take it - and sometimes they will be on the bright side of the rulings, some times not.
But let's hope that tomorrow we'll mainly talk about cycling and not about officials, as we have another beautiful hilly stage on the menu to round off this first Giro week! See you then!
Giro d'Italia 
