Attacking Romain Bardet finishes in GC group on Giro d’Italia Stage 6

A much anticipated stage which featured three gravel sections and multiple rolling Tuscan hills saw an exciting battle for the break, some strong Team dsm-firmenich PostNL teamwork and a Romain Bardet attack in the finale.

It was a fierce start to the stage as there was a strong sense in the peloton that it could be a good day for the breakaway. As a result, the bunch covered the opening 50 kilometres in just under one hour, before they charged onto the first climb. Kevin Vermaerke and Gijs Leemreize followed multiple more attacks on and over the climb, before eventually the elastic snapped and a break went clear. With Vermaerke, Leemreize and Chris Hamilton in the peloton, the team supported Romain Bardet onto and over the gravel sections; where the group thinned down as the pace went up.

After some good positioning work by Hamilton, Bardet launched a stinging attack on the steepest section of the final climb, looking to break the shackles of the bunch. However, the GC favourites were quick to snap onto his wheel so over the top of the ascent there was no point further continuing with the attack. The remaining trio from the breakaway would ultimately go on to fight for the stage win while Bardet came home safely in the reduced peloton ahead of tomorrow’s tough time trial.

Bardet expressed: “It was a good day. I’m starting to feel better and more healthy so it looks like my Giro is finally starting. We want to approach the race on the attack and on the offensive. I had some good support from the guys throughout the day and I really enjoy riding on the white roads, so wanted to make the most of today and go on the attack in the final. I never lost the confidence and knew that once that my problem was fixed then we would be back in the race, so hopefully from now we continue to go upwards.”

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Matt Winston continued: “The team worked really well today. Fabio was brilliant before the first climb, Romain didn’t have to think and he could just follow in the wheel and got pulled along. On the climb Kevin and Gijs were active because we knew that if it went there then it would be a strong break, so they were really good there. Eventually a break went clear, and we had Kevin, Gijs and Chris with Romain for a really long time to support him, which was nice to see. Romain tried an attack in the final but directly the GC favourites were in his wheel so he wasn’t able to get any space. I think we can take some positives from today. The only downer is that Tobias isn’t feeling super well at the moment, but he’s got a TT day to try and recover tomorrow.”