André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) sprinted to a third career Giro d'Italia stage win on stage six of the 2015 race, after a controlled leadout by his Lotto-Soudal teammates.
On a day lacking in action through much of the duration, the final kilometre saw not only the German beat sprint rivals Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) and Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) to victory, but also a huge crash.
Race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) was caught up in the incident, but was awarded the same time as the winner by virtue of the crash coming within the last 3km. Worryingly, the Spaniard appeared to be sporting injury to his left arm or collarbone while on the podium, and refused to put on the maglia rosa because of it.
>>> Alberto Contador suffers suspected broken collarbone in Giro d’Italia crash
Stage six's biggest talking point however, was the gruesome arm injury to Nippo-Vini Fantini rider Daniele Colli, which marred an otherwise quiet stage.
The day's break, which contained Alan Marangoni (Cannondale-Garmin), Marco Bandiera (Androni-Sidermec), Marek Rutkiewicz (CCC), Alessandro Malaguti (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Eduard Michael Grosu (Nippo-Vini Fantini), formed within the first 20km of the race max gap of 4-20.
The peloton always seemed in control though, and the break was eventually pulled back in with around 13km remaining.
It was then over to the sprinter's teams to begin controlling proceedings, and it was the Belgian Lotto team who looked dominant, sitting on the front for the final 3km to lead Greipel perfectly to his first stage win at this year's race.
Friday's stage is the longest of the Giro. At 263km, it looks almost ideal for sprinters until the climb right at the finish, which lends itself to puncheurs or the less pure sprinters.
Giro d’Italia 2015, stage six: Montecatini Terme to Castiglione della Pescaia, 183km
1. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Soudal, in 4-19-42
2. Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling
3. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida
4. Manuel Belletti (Ita) Southeast
5. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
6. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Southeast
7. Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
8. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Giant-Alpecin
9. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF
10. Davide Apollonio (Ita) Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec, all same time
Overall classification after stage six
1. Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff-Saxo, in 20-25-43
2. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, at 2 seconds
3. Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky, at 20 seconds
4. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo, at 22 seconds
5. Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana, at 28 seconds
6. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, at 37 seconds
7. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar, at 56 seconds
8. Mikel Landa (Esp) Astana, at 1-01
9. Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin, at 1-15
10. Andrey Amador (Crc) Movistar, at 1-18
-
-
Giro d'Italia standings: All the jerseys and classifications explained
Giro d'Italia 2021: all the standings for the stages, overall, mountains, points, best young rider and team standings throughout the race
By Tim Bonville-Ginn •
-
Sam Bennett eases to victory on stage three of Volta ao Algarve 2021
Ethan Hayter remains in the yellow jersey after a rather uneventful stage to Tavira
By Tim Bonville-Ginn •
-
‘We broke the f***ing hour record’: Victor Campenaerts responds after Bradley Wiggins criticises Lotto-Soudal
Victor Campenaerts has defended his Lotto-Soudal team after Sir Bradley Wiggins criticised the outfit for missing out on a stage win due to an error.
By Alex Ballinger •
-
Caleb Ewan: 'This proves I'm one of the best'
Ewan says his second win confirms his status amongst the world's top sprinters
By Gregor Brown •
-
Caleb Ewan times sprint perfectly to take stage 11 victory at Giro d'Italia 2019
Arnaud Démare took second with Pascal Ackermann in third on the long flat stage to Novi Ligure
By Richard Windsor •
-
Sheer 'determination' delivered Giro d'Italia stage eight victory, says Caleb Ewan
Australian sprinter says the win relieves the pressure that has been building over the opening week of the Giro
By Gregor Brown •
-
'We thought, let's hide and see what happens': Adam Hansen explains how he and Tim Wellens hid from the Giro peloton
The Lotto pair decided to have some fun after they realised they couldn't make the breakaway group
By Gregor Brown •
-
Adam Hansen to ride his 20th consecutive Grand Tour at the Giro d'Italia
Adam Hansen's remarkable Grand Tour record will continue at the 2018 Giro d'Italia as he takes to the start line for his 20th consecutive three week race.
By Henry Robertshaw •
-
Lars Bak wins 100 beers for being the heaviest rider over the Stelvio
Stelvio bike cafe had offered to award the heaviest Giro d'Italia rider who crested the pass 100 beers
By Craig Cunningham •
-
'Easy decision' for the sprinters to abandon the Giro d'Italia as mountain stages loom
With the mountains looming in the Giro d'Italia, Friday will see an exodus of the sprinters with André Greipel and Caleb Ewan among those planning to leave.
By Gregor Brown •
