GIRO’22 Stage 6: Double Démare For a French Two in a Row!

May 13, 2022

[ad_1]

Giro Stage 6 Race Report: After a less than exciting day on the Giro d’Italia, stage 6 came down to the expected sprint finish. And it was quite a sprint. It took the camera to separate Caleb Ewan, Arnaud Démare and Mark Cavendish. Démare won the sprint by the smallest margin. Juan Pedro López held the overall lead.

Watch the most comprehensive live & ad-free coverage of the Giro d’Italia 2022 on GCN+. Go deeper and get interactive with live polls & quizzes, plus rider profiles, race updates, results & more – plus stream original and exclusive cycling documentaries. Watch it all with GCN+ on any device.

The final K

No time to celebrate on the line

The sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia was won by Arnaud Démare. The Frenchman managed to pass Caleb Ewan in the final sprint, although the difference was not visible to the naked eye. A photo finish showed that the Frenchman turned out to be the better of the Australian by a few millimetres.

López is 24 and Valverde is 42

The Route
Stage 6 is undemanding. It follows a wide roadway along the ss.18 trunk road, with a few tunnels along the course. A long yet mild climb, leading from Mileto to the Razza airport in Vibo Valentia, is the only impediment along the route.

Final kilometres
The route enters urban Scalea for the stage finale, and is raced on wide, straight and well-paved roads, with one last roundabout at the 3km mark.

The start village in Palmi

The jerseys at the start of stage 6 – maybe a change in the points jersey?

For the second day in a row, there was little enthusiasm for an early break. Pascal Eenkhoorn and Bauke Mollema took off from the start, but it turned out to be nothing serious. While they were chatting, the two Dutchmen were caught, but no further attacks were forthcoming, even the Italian wildcard teams held back. Thomas De Gendt and Dries De Bondt set the pace at the front of the peloton, although the first kilometres were ridden at an easy pace.

Stage 6 leaves Palmi

After more than 20 kilometres, there was an attack from the peloton. It was Diego Rosa who made the move. The 33-year-old Italian climber from EOLO-Kometa went on a long, brave and lonely ride. The peloton let him go and Rosa’s lead quickly rose to 5 minutes towards the top of the only climb of the day. At the summit, the lone leader took 3 mountain points. KOM, Lennard Kämna, the first of the peloton for 2 points.

A day for the sprinters

Rosa was still alone at the intermediate sprint in Vibo Valentina, where the Italian took the full 12 points. Then we had three riders from Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli. The Italian team decided to go into battle just before the intermediate sprint, in the hope of getting off the front. Filippo Tagliani, Eduardo Sepúlveda and Simone Ravanelli were the attackers who went through the sprint in that order, taking the points away from the riders with ambitions for the points classification.

It was Diego Rosa (EOLO-Kometa) who went up the road

Of the fast men, only points jersey wearer Arnaud Démare and his biggest challenger Biniam Girmay were really interested in the intermediate sprint. The young Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert rider pushed his wheel over the line just ahead of Démare for 4 points, the Frenchman had to be satisfied with three. The Drone Hopper trio were caught. Rosa still had a lead of around 4 minutes.

Démare’s Groupama team did some of the case work

The sprinter’s teams were not concerned as Rosa still had more than a 100 kilometres to cover to the finish in Scalea. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) took care of the lion’s share of the work at the head of the peloton and Groupama-FDJ, Démare’s team, also put two men on the chase. Eventually Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl took responsibility, aiming for a sprint with top favourite Mark Cavendish, but they didn’t take the now tired Rosa too early.

Nice bit of shade under that tree

Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo) and Sam Oomen (Jumbo-Visma) in the peloton

The sprint teams let the Italian struggle on for a bit for tactical reasons, but with 28 kilometres to go, Rosa’s solo ride came to an end and we could then prepare for another bunch sprint finish. In the last 10 kilometres the lead-out trains came forward and the fight started for the best positions. Israel-Premier Tech took command under the 2 kilometre banner, hoping to pilot Giacomo Nizzolo to victory. They had taken the lead too early and were swamped by Groupama-FDJ.

Rosa had a lonely day

The peloton had a day at the beach

It was Ewan who shot out of the heaving mass and looked to be on his way to victory, but Démare turned out to have an extra gear in his legs. The Frenchman came next to the Australian and had a final jump. It was not clear after the finish who had crossed the line first. A photo finish had to decide the winner and the judges finally came to the conclusion that Démare was the first to push his wheel over the line. A dissatisfied Cavendish was third. Biniam Girmay and Nizzolo filled the top-5.

Who won?

It was close… very close

Stage winner Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ): “It was very tight. I had the feeling that I had won but it was hot so I waited for the photo-finish. A win is sometimes decided by very little. It’s on my favour today. The team has done a tremendous job today. My positioning was excellent at every roundabout. It’s another great team victory. I only had 100 metres to overhaul Cavendish. I threw my bike on the line and it made the difference. Many people underestimate me but it’s my 86th victory today, my 7th at the Giro d’Italia. It counts. It’s wonderful.”

More points for Arnaud Démare

Maglia Rosa, Juan Pedro López Perez (Trek-Segafredo): “I don’t know why it was so slow today but for sure I enjoyed the day. It was all under the control of the sprinters teams. It will be very different tomorrow but we’re ready with the team to defend the Maglia Rosa.”

López still in pink, but tomorrow….

# Keep it PEZ for everything pink. #

Giro d’Italia Stage 6 Result:
1. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ in 5:02:33
2. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
3. Mark Cavendish (GB) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl
4. Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
5. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Israel-Premier Tech
6. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Victorious
7. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën
8. Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis
9. Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) EOLO-Kometa
10. Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo.

Giro d’Italia Overall After Stage 6:
1. Juan Pedro López (Spa) Trek-Segafredo in 23:23:40
2. Lennard Kämna (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe at 0:38
3. Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux at 0:58
4. Simon Yates (GB) BikeExchange-Jayco at 1:42
5. Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl at 1:47
6. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) BORA-hansgrohe at 1:51
7. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates at 1:54
8. Pello Bilbao Bahrain-Victorious at 1:56
9. Richie Porte (Aus) INEOS Grenadiers at 2:04
10. Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM at 2:06.