Giro d’Italia 2019 – Stage 06 [FULL STAGE]

May 16, 2019

Giro d’Italia 2019 – Stage 06 – Cassino – San Giovanni Rotondo : 238 km

The 2019 Giro d’Italia begins on Saturday, May 11, and this Essential Guide kicks off Cyclingnews’ 10-day countdown of special features in preparation for the first Grand Tour of the season. Between now and the opening time trial in Bologna, we’ll have special daily content, including major rider interviews, vital race information and retro features that capture the unique feeling and emotions of the Corsa Rosa. This 102nd edition of the Corsa Rosa rolls out of Bologna on Saturday, May 11, with an evening time trial up to the Basilica della Madonna di San Luca and ends three weeks later on Sunday, June 2, with a 17km time trial into the Roman amphitheatre in the centre of Verona. In between are 21 stages that head south via Tuscany, Lazio, Abruzzo and Puglia and then north back via San Marino for a key time trial and then to Piemonte, climbing first the Alps to the east and then the Passo Gavia and the Passo del Mortirolo before a terrible final week in the Dolomites. The 3,578km of racing include 59.8km of individual time trialling, which is balanced with 40 categorised climbs and six mountain-top finishes.

Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli) and Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) gave Italy a “doppio successo” in San Giovanni Rotondo, with Masnada winning the stage and Conti pulling on the maglia rosa after riding hard for 200km in the break of the day.

The two Italians were part of a 13-rider attack that was allowed to stay away by the peloton after Primoz Roglic was caught up in a big crash and suffered some road rash to his right buttock. He was not hurt but reined in his Jumbo-Visma team on the long ride south into Puglia, allowing the break a moment of glory.

Masnada and Conti attacked on the last and only real climb of the stage with 28km to go, working together all the way to the finish. Masnada kicked hard to win the stage, with Conti finishing just behind him but equally as happy.

Primoz Roglic and the peloton finished 7:19 behind Masnada, so Conti now leads fellow Italian Giovanni Carboni (Bardiani-CSF) by 1:41 in the general classification. Roglic slipped to eleventh overall at 5:24. Carboni’s hard work in the break also paid off with taking the best young rider’s white jersey from Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana).

Masnada showed his form at the recent Tour of the Alps, winning two stages to Baselga di Pine and Bolzano. He emotionally pointed to the sky as he crossed the finish line in San Giovanni Rotondo. Masnada is known as the L’Anguilla di Brambilla – the Eel of Brembilla’ because of the way he moves in the saddle.

“I’m incredibly happy. I knew I was on form but it’s always hard to win at the Giro d’Italia but I’ve done it,” he said.

“I want to dedicate this win to my uncle, who passed away just before the Giro d’Italia. I promised to win a stage for him and I did it.

“We knew the break could go because it was a difficult stage to control. I had to play my cards and went in the first break. When it was caught, I knew I had to go again and it worked out.”

Conti won a stage in last year’s Vuelta a Espana but was understandably emotional to pull on the maglia rosa.

“I’m struggling to understand what I’ve done,” he said.

“As we rode I knew it was possible and I’ve dreamt about it with the team in last few days but there’s a huge difference between dreaming and actually doing it. I felt good and I’m on form this year so I went for it.

“I have to thank the team for all the changes and all the hard work they have done this year. This is a win for everyone in the team. I’ve got a good lead but I know I’ve got to keep my feet on the ground. It’ll be very difficult, almost impossible to keep it all the way to Verona but I’m going to try to keep it as long as possible.” Conti’s first test will be Friday’s 185km stage from Vasto on the Adriatic coast to L’Aquila in the Apennines.

How it happened

After racing for 140km in the rain on Wednesday, the riders were happy to see the sun out at the start in Cassino as they looked up to the hilltop Abbey. They faced another long day in the saddle, with stage 6 the second longest of this year’s race.

The start of the stage was fast and furious with teams sensing that Jumbo-Visma would allow a break to stay away until the finish.

Several early attacks were chased down but then after 15km, Masnada made a move. He was gradually joined by others as a group of 13 riders formed the break of the day. They opened a gap but the peloton seemed ready to close them down, only for destiny to step in after 35km. Roglic crashed with several other overall contenders in the peloton and so the chase halted suddenly, allowing the break to go clear.

Roglic changed bikes and seemed unhurt apart from some road rash on his right buttock and an embarrassing hole in his shorts. He got some medical treatment and a large plaster to cover his wound. All the other overall contenders also returned to the peloton after a show of fair play.

Up front, the 13 riders began to work smoothly together. In there were José Rojas, Andrey Amador (Movistar), Nans Peters (AG2R La Mondiale), Pieter Serry (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Ruben Plaza (Israel Cycling Academy), Nicola Bagioli (Nippo-Fantini-Faizanè), Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates), Fausto Masnada (Androni-Sidermec), Giovanni Carboni (Bardiani-CSF), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb) and Amaro Antunes (CCC Team).

On the quiet rolling roads of central southern Italy near Campobasso, the break pushed their lead out to five minutes as Jumbo-Visma rode tempo and made it clear they were happy to let the maglia rosa slip away. Conti was best-placed overall, 1:59 down on Roglic and so was the virtual maglia rosa. Everyone else was focused on the stage victory.

On the long flat roads towards Foggia, the wind blow from the riders’ left. The break and Jumbo rode in echelon formation but the wind speed and the riders’ enthusiasm was not enough to split the peloton. The status quo lasted for over 100km.

As expected the climb up to Coppa Casarinelle, with 30km to go, shook up the race. It was 15km long but twisted up the barren hillside at 4.4 per cent, making it a perfect playground for anyone feeling strong and aggressive.

With 28km to go, Masnada moved first and was quickly joined by Conti. Everyone else marked Amador, knowing he was a real danger but that meant they had missed the move.

Conti let Masnada do most of the work on the climb and they opened a 30-second gap on the rest, as the gradual gradient shook out the break. Plaza was strong but Oomen lead the counter-attack as Team Sunweb looked to make up for losing team leader Tom Dumoulin. However, they chased each other as Masnada and Conti powered on up front.

Jumbo-Visma continued to lead the peloton on the climb but they slipped to more seven minutes behind. It was Roglic’s final minutes in the maglia rosa, at least for now.

Masnada was first to the top of the Coppa Casarinelle climb with 18km to go. Conti did an occasional turn but knew Masnada’s desire to win the stage was his train to the finish and the pink jersey. They rode together all the way to the finish, with Conti going deep in the final kilometre to gain every possible second, allowing Masnada to win the stage. Both had plenty to celebrate on a successful day out for the home nation.

Results :
1 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 5:45:01
2 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:05
3 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:38
4 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
5 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:00:43
6 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:54
7 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:57
9 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
10 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team
11 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:03
12 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:18
13 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:07:17
14 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:07:19
15 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
16 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
17 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma
18 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
19 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb
20 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Mitchelton-Scott
21 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
22 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
23 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep
24 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
25 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
26 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
27 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
28 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott
29 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
30 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
31 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
32 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
33 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
34 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
35 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
36 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
37 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
38 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First
39 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF
40 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data
41 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
42 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
43 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos
44 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team
45 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team
46 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
47 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First
48 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
49 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
50 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
51 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
52 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
53 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
54 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
55 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
56 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
57 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
58 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
59 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
60 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
61 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
62 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
63 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
64 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
65 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
66 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
67 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
68 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Dimension Data
69 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
70 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
71 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
72 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
73 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
74 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
75 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb
76 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
77 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
78 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
79 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
80 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
81 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
82 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
83 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
84 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
85 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Ineos
86 Ivan Sosa (Col) Team Ineos
87 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First
88 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
89 Awet Andemeskel (Eri) Israel Cycling Academy
90 Jonathan Caicedo (Ecu) EF Education First
91 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
92 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
93 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
94 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
95 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
96 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
97 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
98 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Education First
99 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF

General Classification after Stage 6 :
1 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 25:22:00
2 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:41
3 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:09
4 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:12
5 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:19
6 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team 0:02:45
7 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:03:14
8 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:03:25
9 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:03:27
10 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:04:57
11 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:05:24
12 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:49
13 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:05:59
14 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:06:03
15 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:06:08
16 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
17 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:06:13
18 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:19
19 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:06:20
20 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:06:26
21 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:06:30
22 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team 0:06:34
23 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:06:40
24 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First
25 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
26 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:42
27 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team 0:06:45
28 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos 0:06:48
29 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:07:00
30 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:07:03
31 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:07:12
32 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:07:13
33 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:07:14
34 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:18
35 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:07:20
36 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:07:31
37 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:07:39
38 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos 0:07:43
39 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First 0:07:52
40 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:08:15
41 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:08:22
42 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:08:23
43 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:08:26
44 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:08:41
45 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:08:42
46 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy 0:08:50
47 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:08:54
48 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data 0:09:18
49 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Dimension Data 0:09:27
50 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:09:31
51 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale 0:09:39
52 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:09:44
53 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:10:01
54 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:10:03
55 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:10:13
56 Jonathan Caicedo (Ecu) EF Education First 0:10:36
57 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:11:07
58 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team 0:11:22
59 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:11:31
60 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:11:36
61 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:53
62 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Ineos 0:12:30
63 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:13:04
64 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:13:14
65 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data 0:13:17
66 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:13:25
67 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 0:13:28
68 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:13:39
69 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:13:41
70 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:13:46
71 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:13:50
72 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos 0:13:59
73 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:14:09
74 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
75 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:14:19
76 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:14:29
77 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:14:58
78 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott 0:15:04
79 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:15:52
80 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:16:07
81 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:16:24
82 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:16:38
83 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:17:04
84 Ivan Sosa (Col) Team Ineos 0:17:29
85 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:17:34
86 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
87 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:18:04
88 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:18:29
89 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos 0:18:45
90 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:19:29
91 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:21:46
92 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:22:03
93 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin 0:22:19
94 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:25:16
95 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Education First 0:27:01
96 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:29:19
97 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:31:44
98 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:40:07
99 Awet Andemeskel (Eri) Israel Cycling Academy 0:40:21