Middle tube. An imperceptible sigh. Thousandths for lovers of speed. That was the difference in finish that gave the second consecutive victory to Frenchman Arnaud Demáre in the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia. He repeated Groupama’s in a premeditated sprint from the start by the peloton, simmered by the teams. All the sprinters arrived fresh (there was almost an hour late), at full capacity, to decide who was the king of speed in this Giro. No one was missing this time for the infinite straight, almost 5 kilometers long that led to Scalea after 192 kilometers of rest. The perfect terrain to settle one of the last battles between the fastest.
The day was ripe for Cavendish and Caleb Ewan to vindicate themselves after the previous day’s fiasco. Very soon the Colombian Gaviria was ruled out when he found himself locked up by two DSM runners. The Groupamas launched the volata with Morkov, but grandfather Cavendish (36) soon appeared to attack the victory with 300 meters to go. Behind him, Caleb Ewan showed more power and made enough progress to get ahead. The victory seemed his. But in his slipstream he brought Demáre, capable of slipping between several rivals to grab the good wheel and overtake the Australian at the last breath. We had to wait for the photo finish, which determined the Frenchman’s 86th victory, the seventh in the Italian round, one of his favorite gardens.
The escape of the day was carried out by the Italian Diego Rosa. He traveled 140 kilometers alone. And he did it in vain, because everyone in the race knew that the victory was in the peloton. The stage was dominated by the exasperating slowness of a large group that preferred to save their strength from the start for what is to come today. A very demanding route through the Apennines, with four ports and a finish with inclines of up to 13%. 4,500 meters of elevation gain. Favorable day for secondary actors who want to assault the leadership. The battle between the strongest is not expected until Sunday, which could allow Juanpe López, leader of the race, to hold on to the pink for a few more days.
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