As it happened: Breakaway heartbreak as Pedersen wins Giro d'Italia stage 6

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia.

We're around an hour from the start of stage 6, which is expected to be another day for the sprinters in Napoli.

Aside from the fight for the stage win, all eyes will be on Remco Evenepoel today. The Belgian was caught in two crashes yesterday and was banged up at the finish. He's definitely taking the start today.

Here's what Soudal-QuickStep's team doctor had to say on the world champion's condition following stage 5...

"Remco has a lot of pain on his right side and a hematoma with contraction of his muscles and some problems with his sacrum bone. Hopefully, with some good massage and osteopathic treatment followed by a good night's rest, things will go better. We will know more Thursday morning, but what's sure is that stage six will be a difficult one for him.

Meanwhile, team boss Patrick Lefevere said in a radio interview after the stage that there wasn't enough control over the stray dogs along the route during the stage. A loose dog caused the crash that took Evenepoel down the first time.

"I don't want to exaggerate now, but I was on the course before and I thought I was in Colombia," he told Belgium's Radio 1. "I've seen at least 15 stray dogs along the streets. You can experience this kind of situation in southern Italy and it cannot be solved.

"As a rider you can't take that into account, but you have to count on the goodwill of the police and the public, that they understand what the danger a dog can be and that they chase it away."

There were plenty of crashes on the stage, from Evenepoel's early spill to another at 7km out which saw Primož Roglič, Fernando Gaviria, and eventual stage winner Kaden Groves held up.

Then there was the mass pileup at 2.4km to go which took down Evenepoel again, as well as Aleksandr Vlasov and Hugh Carthy. Finally, a sprint skirmish, for which Alberto Dainese was relegated, saw Mark Cavendish spectacularly crash across the line.

Cavendish, Evenepoel, Roglic sent sprawling on rainy Giro d'Italia stage 5

Dog sparks Remco Evenepoel crash at Giro d'Italia - Video

So far, there have been no confirmed abandons from any of the crashes.

AG2R Citroën rider Andrea Vendrame looked in the worst shape of the riders who went down. He was stretchered away from the finish line crash and suffered a shoulder separation but his team have confirmed that he'll continue the race today.

Not quite a clean bill of health in the peloton, then. There'll be plenty of aching bodies out on the 162km course today.

One rider who will be missing out on the action is Arkéa-Samsic's Clément Russo. The Frenchman is the first COVID-19 positive of the race and won't start today's stage.

Giro d'Italia hit by first COVID-19 case as Clément Russo leaves race

Primož Roglič said he was thankful for "super good luck" after crashing 7km from the finish during yesterday's stage.

The Slovenian GC contender was able to make it back to the peloton before the finish and avoided the rest of the carnage during the day. He came through with a hit to the leg but no further injuries.

Napoli hosts the Giro d'Italia for the 67th time today. The stage will both start and end in the southern city, heading south around Mount Vesuvius and looping around the Sorrentine Peninsula before finishing back in the city.

The Giro last visited Napoli a year ago, with Thomas De Gendt coming out on top from a 14-man break as Lotto teammate Harm Vanhoucke took fourth.

10 years ago, Napoli hosted the Grande Partenza with a 130km sprint stage. Mark Cavendish took the win ahead of Elia Viviani and Nacer Bouhanni – the first of five at the race, where he won the points jersey in Brescia.

The Manxman will be hoping for a 17th career Giro stage win today if he's recovered from the big bang he took at the finish yesterday.

20 minutes now until the riders roll out to hit the 9.5km neutral zone in Napoli.

The crowds in Napoli should be in fine form today after the city's football team, SSC Napoli, celebrated their first Scudetto in Serie A since 1990 a week ago.

The city bore witness to wild scenes as thousands of fans flooded the streets to celebrate their club's third league title in their 96-year history.

Former footballer Remco Evenepoel got into the spirit of things at sign-on today. He's clearly recovering well from yesterday's crashes, then...

Soudal-QuickStep doctor Toon Cruyt said that Evenepoel is doing well following the events of stage 5.

"He had a good night. He slept well and the treatments that the osteopath and the kineo did last night worked well. We'll see how he reacts on the bike but I hope that he'll be OK. It depends on how the race develops – if it's like this, then it's an advantage compared to rain when there can be crashes.  We should avoid that now.

"Usually the first two days are important but if he passes well today, I think he'll be OK for tomorrow. Often they say that the second day is the worst but it's often also a mental thing. Remco doesn't have this mental problem. 10 minutes after his crash, he was ready to fight again."

A video of Evenepoel doing keepy-ups on stage from Soudal-QuickStep press officer Phil Lowe...

Meanwhile, Alberto Dainese and Mark Cavendish caught up ahead of the stage and agreed to put the crash at the end of stage 5 behind them, Team DSM reports.

Just a few minutes before the riders roll out to start and Remco Evenepoel has spoken at the mixed zone in Napoli.

"It's not nice [to crash], especially early in the Giro like this. I have some pain in the back, some big bruises. I have a big black spot on my back, which is some blood.

"But yeah, it's life, it's racing. You have to deal with it and try to handle the pain as good as possible and to relax as much as possible because I think I need a lot of energy noew to heal from the wounds. But until now, everything feels pretty well, so I'm happy with the feeling.

"I just hope I don't have a bad day [on Gran Sasso d'Italia] because last year in the Vuelta, two days after I had a bad day. We'll see, it's good that today is a hard day, so that my legs will be pushing and turning. First today and then tomorrow."

Filippo Ganna pleases the local crowds by holding up a Napoli Diego Maradona scarf on stage.

The riders are off to start stage 6 in warm weather and under blue, but cloudy, skies.

A 9.5km run through the neutral zone now.

A gentle start to the stage after the carnage of yesterday's wet day.

171 riders start today. Russo is the only man missing from the peloton.

Giro d'Italia: Remco Evenepoel ready to suffer through 'back pain and big bruises'

World champion says he's 'happy with the feeling' the morning after stage 5 crashes

Gianni Moscon gets a bike change in the neutral zone. He has a cut on his right elbow and looks to have crashed.

Trek-Segafredo rider Otto Vergaerde was also involved. Both men back up and running.

And now a wheel change for Niccolò Bonifazio (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty).

We're still waiting for the riders to reach the end of what is now an extended neutral zone following the various hold ups.

Now maglia ciclamino Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) has slowed down with some kind of problem.

The sprinter gets a front wheel change. It sounded like his front disc brake was rubbing as he slowed down.

Milan gets back on and finally the flag drops to start the stage.

158km to go

Riders from EF, Eolo, Bardiani, Arkéa all active at the front from the start.

Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) on the move.

The Swiss time trial specialist is leading the attacking at the front early on.

Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco-AlUla) now on the move off the front.

A spill in the peloton sees Milan go down along with Jay Vine and Fernando Gaviria. The trio look to be OK, though.

152km to go

De Marchi still out front on his own as a larger group chases from behind. The gaps are small, though.

Meanwhile, Gaviria gets a bike change following the crash.

38-year-old Francesco Gavazzi (Eolo-Kometa) has joined 36-year-old De Marchi out front now. 

Filippo Fiorelli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizané) and Daan Hoole (Trek-Segafredo) out the back of the peloton as Gaviria speeds past behind his team car.

148km to go

A rise in the road and Alexandre Delettre (Cofidis) attacks along with Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-Samsic), and Charlie Quarterman (Corratec-Selle Italia).

Six men out front at the moment and now teams are blocking at the head of the peloton.

The peloton is slowing up now.

So it's De Marchi, Gavazzi, Clarke, Delettre, Quarterman, and Verre out front.

Verre is still chasing on.

And now a bike change for Ignatas Konovalovas (Groupama-FDJ).

The jersey holders at the start of today's stage – Milan, Pinot, Leknessund, and Arensman (fourth in the youth classification).

Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè missed the breakaway and they send a rider on the attack but it's no good as he can't get away.

Küng is once again trying a move at the front of the peloton.

139km to go

The breakaway is 1:30 up the road.

Verre is still chasing. It doesn't look like anyone else will be escaping the peloton.

Jan Hirt (Soudal-QuickStep) stops with a puncture and gets a bike change.

Another wheel change for Milan. Not a great start to the stage for the maglia ciclamino...

132km to go

Things are settling down now. Verre is still chasing the lead quintet, though.

Three minutes between break and peloton as Verre lies around 40 seconds back.

The riders aren't far away from the first intermediate sprint of the day at Sant'Antonio Abate now.

Team DSM and Alpecin-Deceuninck lead the way in the peloton.

127km to go

Quarterman leads Gavazzi and Clarke over the sprint. No contest in the breakaway.

Verre, meanwhile, only looks to be losing time now. It doesn't look like he'll get across.

Just the 2 and 1 points up for grabs in the peloton.

Mads Pedersen dashes out of the peloton ahead of the sprint.

Michael Matthews, Kaden Groves, and Jonathan Milan all went with him.

Pedersen took two points there. It looked like Matthews was second to take the last point.

122km to go

Next up, it's the first of two climbs on the stage, the second-category Valico di Chiunzi.

The break are just about to hit the base of the climb.

The Valico di Chiunzi (8.3km at 6.3%) is a second-category climb, so offers 18 points for the first man over the top.

It's not a famed climb of the race but was notable in the 1997 Giro. Lying on stage 4, after a week of Mario Cipollini and Pavel Tonkov trading stage wins and the maglia rosa, the climb spelt the end of Marco Pantani's race. The legendary climber went down along with several riders, including Alexandre Moos, Hernan Buenahora and Armin Meier after a white cat ran out across the road as the group descended at 85kph. 

Pantani was lying fifth at the time, 1:31 down on Tonkov. The cat was even less fortunate, with La Gazzetta dello Sport's poetic recounting of the incident describing the unfortunate feline as "having the glassy eyes of someone who would never reach the other side of the road."

"Why does it always happen to me?" Pantani said after the crash. "Why is it always me who has to get hurt? I don't want to think about the future. I was in the Giro and that's all I'd been thinking about for seven months.

"I'd rather have been beaten by rivals, not by misfortune. I don't just want to be remembered as a rider with terrible luck."

He would, of course, go on to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour the next year. You can read Cyclingnews' archived report on the stage here. 

120km to go

Five minutes from the breakaway now as they take on the climb.

Verre still hanging in there in between break and peloton.

Gavazzi leads the breakaway on the way up.

Clarke, Delettre, Quarterman, De Marchi still with him.

DSM, Trek-Segafredo, Bora-Hansgrohe, and Jumbo-Visma at the head of the peloton at the moment.

The break of the day shortly after they jumped away from the peloton.

Nice weather back then but now it's starting to rain as the riders work their way uphill.

114km to go

5:25 for the breakaway now.

The breakaway riders are coming close to the top of the climb now.

18, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 points on offer at the top of the climb.

Ineos Grenadiers take over at the front of the peloton with a change of pace.

Mark Cavendish is out the rear of the group, meanwhile. He's with several of his Astana Qazaqstan teammates.

A trio of veterans lead the way over the top of the climb. Gavazzi ahead of Clarke and De Marchi.

Meanwhile, more riders drop out the rear of the peloton. Ineos have cut 30 seconds off the breakaway's advantage since taking to the front.

Alessandro Verre crosses the top of the climb now for one KOM point. He's persevering but going nowhere.

Gavazzi's 18 points at the top catapult him up to fourth in the mountain classification. He's still some way off maglia azzurra Thibaut Pinot's 40 points, though.

We've got everything you need to know about the race for the maglia azzurra, as well as the other jerseys and the minor competitions. There's also a complete history of Giro d'Italia competitions and a rules explainer.

Giro d'Italia classifications, jerseys and rules explained

109km to go

4:15 between the break and peloton now as they tackle the damp descent.

A short descent and now an unclassified rise to the Colle San Pietro. Then the riders will take on a longer descent to the Amalfi coast.

Front wheel puncture for Mikaël Cherel.

Two minutes from the break to Verre. 3:45 to the peloton.

The peloton racing through Napoli before, passing under the banners celebrating their Serie A victory.

Ineos Grenadiers continue to push a hard pace here, shaving more and more time from the breakaway's lead.

Some drier roads on the way down the Colle San Pietro.

98km to go

The riders are into the final 100km of the day now. 3:30 to the break.

A shot of the peloton taking on the climb earlier on.

Quarterman is slightly off the rear of the breakaway on the way down. Maybe just keeping a safe distance in case of any crashes in front, or just taking it easier on a tricky descent.

The riders are almost down in Amalfi now.

It's a nice-looking place...

Eolo-Kometa pair Vincenzo Albanese and Mattia Bais stop in the town to sort out a mechanical problem.

Ineos have turned off the pace a little. From a maximum gap of five minutes, it had come down to 3:20. It now stands at 3:40.

Bahrain Victorious and Jumbo-Visma are up front in the peloton alongside Ineos Grenadiers now.

Very picturesque views of the peloton as they work their way along the Amalfi coast. The area was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

UAE Team Emirates now taking it up at the front with Ryan Gibbons.

89km to go

Verre is brought back by the peloton after his futile chase.

A shot from the TV helicopter of the peloton winding their way along the twisting coast road.

It's hilly ground on this lengthy coastal stretch. Not much flat ground or straight road.

85km to go

3:55 for the breakaway now as the time gap goes back out.

It seems like a number of sprinters are back in the peloton. Cavendish isn't, however. The British champion is at 5:40 from the break and two minutes down on the peloton.

Up front, the five men of the breakaway continue to plough on towards the final climb of the day, the third-category Picco Sant'Angelo.

Quarterman and Delettre are making their Giro d'Italia debuts this year.

The veterans Clarke, De Marchi, and Gavazzi, however, have 19 Giro d'Italia starts between them.

The trio have multiple Giro stage podiums between them over the years. 

De Marchi was a runner-up to Joe Dombrowski in Sestola two years ago and also took a second and third place in the mountains at the 2012 race.

Also in 2021, Gavazzi was second behind Victor Lafay in Guardia Sanframondi. He has a couple of third places all the way back in 2009 on his palmarès, too.

Clarke, meanwhile, has a 2015 team time trial win with Orica-GreenEdge to his name as well as a second place later in the race and a third place in Cesenatico in 2020.

77km to go

3:25 for the breakaway. It seems unlikely that the elder statesmen of the break will be adding to their list of podium places with a number of teams in the peloton interested in going for the stage.

They're still going up and down on the coast road.

Heading west over the Sorrentine Peninsula, the riders have passed through Positano and are on the way to Sorrento.

A view of Positano, where the riders have just passed.

2:30 between the peloton and Cavendish at the moment. 

Long way round – Charlie Quarterman's circuitous route to the Giro d'Italia

"When you hear about the wildcard, you start thinking about the Giro directly, even though it's months away. From that moment onwards, I felt a little bit more pressure, and that's what made it hurt more when I was lying in the back of the ambulance.

69km to go

The gap to the breakaway goes under three minutes for the first time.

9, 4, 2, 1 points on offer for the breakaway on the next climb. They'll be at the top soon.

There's movement in the breakaway now as they race up the hill of Picco Sant'Angelo.

De Marchi and Clarke have attacked their breakaway companions!

Quarterman is off the back.

Gavazzi and Delettre can't keep up either.

Final kilometre of the climb for Clarke and De Marchi here.

De Marchi leads Clarke over the top to take nine KOM points.

2:20 from the pair back to the peloton. Cavendish is another five minutes back.

62km to go

Clarke and De Marchi still clear on the way down the other side.

Delettre is leading the chase at some 15 seconds back. Gavazzi and Quarterman further back.

The peloton race along the coast road with the Tyrrhenian Sea behind them.

Down into Sorrento for the breakaway now. The second and final intermediate sprint is coming up.

Delettre, Quarterman, and Gavazzi are together in the chase but they're 1:23 down on the two leaders.

54km to go

The peloton is at 2:30 down. Cavendish is at 9:20.

Clarke leads De Marchi over the sprint point. Gavazzi takes the final bonus second.

Simon Clarke has won stages at the Tour de France and Vuelta a España before, so he's going for a completion of the Grand Tour trilogy here.

Alessandro De Marchi, meanwhile, has three Vuelta stage wins to his name, so this would be his first outside the Spanish race.

A reminder of today's official stage profile. The riders are past the hardest terrain of the day and it's mostly flat from here on out.

Delettre, Quarterman, and Gavazzi aren't far off being caught by the peloton now. They fell back into the clutches of the group very quickly.

48km to go

And now it's over for the trio.

DSM, Trek, QuickStep, UAE leading the peloton.

We don't know which sprinters are in the peloton, but most of the big names should be in there. Cavendish might be the only one missing.

Pedersen, Matthews, Gaviria, Dainese, Groves, Milan are all in the peloton.

Arne Marit is in Cavendish's group but we don't have confirmation on any other riders back there – they're over 11 minutes down now.

40km to go

Clarke and De Marchi continue with 2:30 on the peloton.

They're holding the gap well on these roads, which are still twisting around the coast.

Trek-Segafredo's Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier is working on the front of the peloton but he isn't getting a ton of help at the moment.

Natnael Tesfatsion joins him at the front. Jasha Sütterlin (Bahrain Victorious) is up there, too.

Florian Stork also contributing to the pacemaking for Team DSM.

The riders race into Castellammare di Stabia with 2:25 separating the break and peloton.

33km to go

It's still the same mix of teams leading the peloton – Trek, DSM, Bahrain.

Clarke and De Marchi are still working well together. The pair of breakaway specialists have done all this before, of course.

Clarke has seven career wins to his name. The biggest, and most recent, of those came last July when he raced glory from the break over the Roubaix cobbles on stage 5 of the Tour de France.

The most recent of De Marchi's six career wins came at Tre Valli Varesine two years ago. The latest of his three Vuelta stage wins came at Ribeira Sacra/Luíntra as the strongest man from the break on stage 11 in 2018.

27km to go

2:15 now for the duo.

They're holding on well so far on this run back towards Napoli.

They're heading back up the coast, south of Mount Vesuvius, in the opposite direction of the northern road they took earlier.

Ghebreigzabhier leads the peloton. He's been joined by more and more riders and teams as the kilometres tick by.

Alpecin-Deceuninck are also working at the front now. A plethora of sprinter's teams in charge.

The riders are past Pompeii and Torre Annunziata. Pretty soon they'll be speeding back into Napoli from the south.

Movistar also have a man at the head of the peloton in Carlos Verona.

Stage winners Jonathan Milan, Michael Matthews, and Kaden Groves will be among the favourites for victory.

So too will Mads Pedersen, Fernando Gaviria, Pascal Ackermann, and Alberto Dainese, among others.

Mark Cavendish is well out of it, of course. Arne Marit (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and David Dekker (Arkéa-Samsic) is also not in contention.

23km to go

The break's advantage dips under two minutes for the first time. 

De Marchi and Clarke out on the road. They're really battling to stay away here.

20km to go

Into the final 20km of the stage and it's down to 1:35 for the two leaders.

They're riding into a headwind now. Not good for the break.

A nice shot of the riders tackling the hilly coastal section earlier on.

18km to go

1:25 now for the two leaders.

Through the towns of Ercolano and then Portici. Then the re-entry into Napoli.

Ineos Grenadiers are back on the front of the peloton.

17km to go

1:15 for the breakaway duo.

Primož Roglič has stopped!

The Slovenian gets a quick bike change and is back up and running.

Roglič had a mechanical problem. He had a tear on his shorts, though, indicating he's been on the ground at some point today.

15km to go

Several Jumbo-Visma riders drop back to help Roglič.

They're fighting back through the car convoy behind the peloton.

Far from ideal timing as the riders head back into the Neapolitan city streets.

Dennis and Gloag with Roglič.

13km to go

Roglič has made it back to the rear of the peloton now. Dennis is slowing, though, possibly with a mechanical of his own.

Meanwhile, De Marchi and Clarke hold a gap of 1:10 as they bunnyhop over some unmarked road furniture heading around a corner.

12km to go

Trek, Alpecin, Movistar, Ineos, Bahrain all up front in the peloton.

Geraint Thomas has a problem now!

He's stopped and is fixing his chain on that sketchy corner.

Now he faces a chase back on.

11km to go

Under a minute to the break now.

Ineos will send a few men back to help Thomas.

We've just seen this shot of Mark Cavendish on the ground earlier today. That's why he's so far back.

9km to go

55 seconds...

Thomas has two men with him as he battles back to the peloton.

Now another man drops back to help – Ganna, Puccio and Swift are with Thomas.

7km to go

Clarke and De Marchi still have 50 seconds here!

No time check on Thomas yet.

Movistar, Trek leading the way in the chase.

And now Thomas and co make it back to the peloton.

It has been a very tense run-in.

Bahrain, Trek, EF, UAE also up at the front of the peloton.

6km to go

45 seconds now for the two leaders.

The riders will be racing along the coastal road towards the finish. Some technical points and corners, though the final kilometre is dead straight along the seafront.

5km to go

It's looking better and better for Clarke and De Marchi.

Now Jayco-AlUla head to the front of the peloton. They'll be looking to disrupt on behalf of De Marchi as well as be ready to work for a possible sprint.

4km to go

The gap dips under 40 seconds.

Ineos Grenadiers shift up to the front.

A few more seconds drop off the gap.

So many different teams up front – a mix of sprint squads and those looking to protect their GC men.

3km to go

34 seconds for De Marchi and Clarke.

Now Alpecin-Deceuninck join the fray for the first time.

Is it too late?

Bora-Hansgrohe also up there along with EF and Ineos.

The peloton pass the 3km mark.

27 seconds.

Alpecin-Deceuninck's brief appearance at the front is already over.

A few bends in the road mean the peloton can't see the leaders here.

2km to go

24 seconds.

The seconds are coming off metre by metre.

1km to go

16 seconds left!

It's a straight road to the finish now.

Clarke leads De Marchi.

Trek leading the peloton.

Movistar and Alpecin next.

Now De Marchi on the front.

500m to go

Can they hang on?

This is so close.

De Marchi and Clarke side by side.

They're caught at 250 metres to go!

Gaviria launches past them long!

Pedersen and Milan behind Gaviria.

Gaviria has gone too early!

Finish

Mads Pedersen comes through to take the win!

It looked like it was Pedersen from Milan.

A brutal finish for De Marchi and Clarke. They were so close to holding on for a famous win there.

The stage result...

Gaviria tried to go very long but died in the final 100 metres. Pedersen on the inside was in prime position, coming up to his wheel and bursting past.

Milan, Ackermann, and Groves were next in line but nobody could match Pedersen's closing sprint.

Gaviria ended up fifth there.

Clarke was fighting to complete a Grand Tour stage win set, but it was Pedersen who did it at the line. The Dane has previously won stages at the Tour and Vuelta.

Pedersen celebrates victory on stage 6.

Here's what Mads Pedersen had to say after his win...

"I'm pretty happy. it's what we came for so it's nice to have a victory now. It was a tough day for the team and it's nice to pay them back with this victory. Good day.

"It was pretty close in the end. It wasn't easy to catch them. For a long time they have two minutes and we had to use basically everyone. And it wasn't only us – all the sprinters had to use all the guys they had available. It was really not easy to catch them. What was it – 300 metres to go we caught them? I feel sorry for those guys because they did really, really well, but I'm happy I could take the win.

"It was pretty tough. I wanted to open a long sprint because we had to catch these guys. But luckily for me Gaviria did it before and I had someone in front to try to catch. He did a really strong sprint and it was not easy."

The dash for the finish line.

Despite all the drama in the closing kilometres, all the major GC men ended up finishing safely in the peloton.

Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finished fourth today. Here's what he had to say...

"Today was actually super tough. The bunch was in one line all day. The finish wasn't actually too chaotic in the end, in my opinion, but it was pretty stressful for the sprint teams to catch the breakaway back. In the end, a really hard day.

"I really think that both the breakaway and the peloton had motorbikes today, which made for a really fast stage. We caught them with 300 metres to go, I think, which was pretty wild.

"It was pretty disappointing [to miss the win]. I think I just missed out on the ciclamino jersey with Jonathan Milan beating me on the finish line. It's still a long way to go to Rome and we'll see what the next day brings."

Simon Clarke was devastated after missing out on the win today...

"Devastating. It's not nice to lose in that way, getting caught with so close to go. I'd probably prefer to be caught with 10km to go rather than 200 metres. You can't win them all, but if you don't try then you never know. Tomorrow's another day.

"Look, at the end of the day, there's always going to be a moment where you have to decide to stop pulling. You can't pull all the way until 10 metres to go. We needed 10-15 more seconds. It was just the way it was.

"I just keep working hard and every year work a little bit harder. I don't sit at home and look at how old I am, I just keep working harder than ever, actually, and that enables me to still put in performances like today.

Maglia ciclamino Jonathan Milan after finishing second on the stage...

"What a day. It was really difficult. I tried to sprint at the end and I think the legs were a bit tired from the climbs. It was a bit of a fight to get up there in the end. I tried to keep the best position possible with my team.

"Of course it could've gone better. You can only do what you can do. The legs obviously weren't at 100% and I was actually surprised to get over the climbs and be able to sprint. In the end the breakaway wasn't that easy to bring back. I maybe could've done a bit better."

No change in the GC today. Andreas Leknessund leads Remco Evenepoel by 28 seconds at the top while stage 4 winner Aurelién Paret-Peintre lies third at 30 seconds.

Some news on Mark Cavendish. The sprinter crashed on the descent of the Colle San Pietro shortly after the first climb of the day, the Valico di Chiunzi.

He crossed the line as part of a large group, including numerous teammates.

Giro d'Italia: Mads Pedersen claims stage 6 as breakaway caught at last gasp

Leknessund keeps lead on another chaotic stage that saw Roglič, Thomas chasing frantically in finale kilometres

Andreas Leknessund back in the maglia rosa tonight.

Jonathan Milan retains the maglia ciclamino for another day.

Thibaut Pinot is still in the blue climbers jersey, meanwhile.

Spare a thought for De Marchi and Clarke, who came so close to glory on the stage today...

A look ahead to tomorrow and the next trip to the mountains with the climb of Gran Sasso d'Italia.

The race heads back to the Apennines for stage 7, visiting the largest plateau of the mountain range at Campo Imperatore. The first-category climb to the finish is officially 26.4km at an average of 3.4%, but the final 4.4km measure in at 8.2%.

The mountain will play host to the next stage of the Giro's GC battle, with Andreas Leknessund hoping to hold onto the maglia rosa as the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Primož Roglič, João Almeida, and Geraint Thomas do battle.

Simon Yates took victory on the climb last time it was used five years ago. The Briton beat Thibaut Pinot and Esteban Chaves to the top, while the top 11 were covered by under 30 seconds. He'd hold pink all the way until stage 18 before he collapsed in the Alps.

Back in 1999, Marco Pantani soared into the maglia rosa, beating José Maria Jimenez by 23 seconds at the top and going on to win three more mountain stages before his controversial expulsion from the race at Madonna di Campiglio.

Giro d'Italia: GC standings after stage 6

Andreas Leknessund stays in pink with no significant changes

So close, so far: Clarke, De Marchi caught in sight of finish line at Giro d'Italia

Breakaway reeled in with 250 metres to go in Napoli on stage 6

We'll have more news, including a comprehensive preview of stage 7 and interviews with Remco Evenepoel, Geraint Thomas, Mark Cavendish, and Thibaut Pinot coming throughout the evening.

Check back for all that and more from the Giro d'Italia on Cyclingnews.