Giro d'Italia

Surprise man ends Spanish dry spell

Pelayo Sanchez can hardly believe that his dream of winning the Giro has become a reality.(Bild: AFP/APA/Luca Bettini)

Just like the day before, the 6th stage of the Giro d'Italia also fell prey to a breakaway. Surprise man Pelayo Sanchez secured the first Spanish Giro stage win in almost five years. 

The Movistar rider beat his last two fellow breakaway riders, two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe and Australian Luke Plapp, in a sprint on the way to his biggest victory to date after 180 km from Viareggio to Rapolano Terme.

Alaphilippe, for his part, missed out on joining an illustrious circle. The French world champion from 2020 and 2021 has yet to win a stage at the Tour of Italy, while he has already won a stage at the Tour of Spain and Tour of France.

In the hectic stage with three gravel sections in the finish, Tadej Pogacar successfully defended the overall leader's pink jersey. The top favorite from Slovenia continues to lead the classification ahead of the Welshman Geraint Thomas and the Colombian Daniel Felipe Martinez.

Pros had to swallow dust
In view of the high temperatures and dry weather, the pros had to swallow a lot of dust on the white gravel roads, which are also used in the Strade Bianche one-day race. The peloton had previously covered the first hour at a very fast average speed of almost 52 kilometers per hour before the field split up. The Austrian and Pogacar helper Felix Großschartner finished 36 seconds behind, while his compatriot Patrick Gamper was part of a small escape group in the meantime and ultimately finished 78th (+13:33 min.).

Friday should see major changes in the overall classification when the first of two individual time trials between Foligno and Perugia is on the program. The 40.6 km long section is predominantly flat until the second time trial at race kilometer 34, followed by a 6.6 km long 4th category climb up to the finish.