RACE LEADER MICHAEL Matthews of Australia won the gruelling sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday as compatriot Cadel Evans lurked on a day’s racing marred by a nasty crash.
Ireland’s Nicolas Roche was one of those involved in the crash in question, which caused him to lose 15 minutes in general classification and left his hopes of success in jeopardy.
Matthews, 23, surged home in a sprint finish to the 257km stage from Sassano to Montecassino, the longest on the Tour, ahead of Belgian Tim Wellens and Evans.
The leading peloton had a 49sec advantage over the main chasing pack that included a host of rivals to Evans, the big beneficiary of the day’s racing.
Heavy rain made for a slick surface and there were two falls in the final 12km, 8.7km of which was a steep climb.
Evan’s BMC teammate, Switzerland’s Steve Morabito, accelerated away to build up a lead that the fallen riders were unable to reel in.
In the general classication, Matthews has a 21sec lead over Evans, with Colombian Rigoberto Uran at 1min 18sec.
Friday’s seventh stage is a 231km ride from Frosinone to Foligno.
Results in the Giro d’Italia on Thursday, after the 257km sixth stage from Sassano to Montecassino:
Stage
1. Michael Matthews (AUS/ORI) 6hr 37min 01sec, 2. Tim Wellens (BEL/LTB) same time, 3. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC)s.t., 4. Matteo Rabottini (ITA/NRI) s.t., 5. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/ORI) at 13sec, 6. Steve Morabito (SUI/BMC) 23sec, 7. Wilco Kelderman (NED/BKN) 49, 8. Mauro Finetto (ITA/NRI), s.t., 9. Diego Ulissi (ITA/LAM), 10. Fabio Duarte (COL/COL),11. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN/GRM), 12. Diego Rosa (ITA/AND), 13. Fabio Aru (ITA/AST), 14. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/ALM), 15. Rigoberto Uran (COL/OPQ), 16. Daniel Moreno (ESP/KAT), 17. Michael Rogers (AUS/TIN), 18. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EUC), 19. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV), 20. Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (ITA/BAR) all 49sec
Selected
28. Ivan Basso (ITA/CAN) 49sec … 35. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 1min 29sec … 171. Nicolas Roche (EIR/TIN) 15:08
Overall
1. Michael Matthews (AUS/ORI) 24hr 18min 14sec, 2. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) at 21sec, 3. Rigoberto Uran (COL/OPQ) at 1min 18sec, 4. Rafal Majka (POL/TIN) 1:25, 5. Steve Morabito (SUI/BMC) 1:25, 6. Matteo Rabottini (ITA/NRI) 1:25, 7. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/ORI) 1:47, 8. Fabio Aru (ITA/AST) 1:51, 9. Tim Wellens (BEL/LTB) 1:52, 10. Ivan Basso (ITA/CAN) 2:0611. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 2:08, 12. Wilco Kelderman (NED/BKN) 2:11, 13. Maxime Bouet (FRA/ALM) 2:11, 14. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA/ALM) 2:11, 15. Diego Ulissi (ITA/LAM) 2:22, 16. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO/TRE) 2:24, 17. Michele Scarponi (ITA/AST) 2:28, 18. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/BMC) 2:34, 19. Dario Cataldo (ITA/SKY) 2:36, 20. Gianluca Brambilla (ITA/OPQ) 2:46
Selected
26. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 3:13 … 39. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN/GRM) 4:39 … 80. Nicolas Roche (EIR/TIN) 15:55
Well done Kate. Absolutely outstanding
Delighted for you, so proud of achieving Silver, after a stunning indoor championship. What an athlete. A fantastic role model for every athlete in lreland, well done and thanks for time and effort put in to allow us to have Olympic dreams again
Fantastic achievement, well done.
Watched you all the way. Brilliant. Well done. Also well done to the BBC coverage who were cheering you on all the way. No “ Our Girl” language.
Well done Dundalk proud
Some achievement on the world stage, fair play to her and her team. Looking forward to watching her over the next decade please God. Another Irish female star.
Soooooooo proud
Brillent next its gold .Anyone know what station its on so i wont miss next two days
@SEAN: found it
@SEAN: bbc 2
Fair play Kate. Phenomenal performance!
Amazing stuff – what an achievement and what a 2 weeks! New Irish sporting superstar in the making, congrats Kate! Now imagine what she could do if she was a full time pro…
Amazing stuff
Only saw the 800m but she pulverised her rival for silver. And the gold medal winner didn’t find it too easy to keep up with her. There is surely more to come!
Outstanding achievement!
Will she be saying the same thing when she represents Northern Ireland at the commonwealth games next year? British occupied
@John Deane: Unlikely John if you knew anything about her! You should try and poison some other thread instead
@John Deane: born in the republic off ireland dundalk
Wens rhasisat racing