Tirreno - Adriatico 2013: Stage 6

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January 1 - March 12, Porto Sant'Elpidio, Italy, Road - WorldTour

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Tirreno-Adriatico continues, with even more climbing in stage six!

Welcome back to Tirenno-Adriatico, as the penultimate stage presents the peloton with three climbs of the Sant'Elpido a Mare.
 

With roughly 100 km to go, we have a large group in the lead: Cancellara (RadioShack), Nocentini, Montaguti y Dumoulin (Ag2r), Boom (Blanco), Cunego (Lampre-Merida), Visconti and Intxausti (Movistar Team), Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Vicioso (Katusha), Impey and O'Grady (Orica-Greenedge), Finetto (Vini Fantini), Sprick (Argos-Shimano), Voss (NetApp-Endura) and Selvaggi (Vacansoleil-DCM). They have a lead of about 3 minutes.

The other big news of the day is that Andy Schleck of RadioShack has once again abandoned. He has finished only one race since last year's LBL.
 

hm, we see Dumoulin in the break group although he doesn't seem to be in the race at all.... We'll see if we can't figure it out.

Sky's Henao was originally in the group, but dropped back.

 

Unfortunately, it is raining again today at the race.

We now hear that sprinters Mark Cavendish and Matthew Goss have also withdrawn from the race.

It is a bit difficult to get information at the moment, and we still don't know who took the mountain points.

95km remaining from 209km

Astana's Guzdev was not at the start today. In addition to Schleck, Lotto Belisol's Vanendert has abandoned, due to a severe sore throat.
 

Today's course is a circuit course, starting and finishing in Port Sant'Elpido. The riders will tackle the Sant'Elpido a Mare climb three times all told. The first two times, they take the “easy” way up, 3 kms with an average gradient of 6.1% and a maximum of 21%. But the final time, at km 191.5, they face a 6.3km climb, with an average gradient of only 2.9%, but a maximum of 27%.

Yesterday Chris Froome of Sky took over the lead in the race, and now leads by 20 seconds over Alberto Contador (Saxo Tinkoff) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana).

1     Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling     22:11:53      
2     Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff     0:00:20      
3     Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team            
4     Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step     0:00:24      
5     Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack Leopard     0:00:37      
6     Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia     0:00:52      
7     Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha     0:00:55      
8     Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling     0:00:57      
9     Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff     0:01:27      
10     Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling     0:01:51      

 

The rain, cold and climbs are taking their toll today, as the reports of abandon flood in.  At least 20 riders are said to have abandoned today.

Contador leads the points ranking, ahead of Mark Cavendish (OPQS), who is no longer in the race.

1     Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff     23     pts
2     Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick Step     21      
3     Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling     20      
4     Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge     18      
5     Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia     17      
6     Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team     15      
7     Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka     15      
8     Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha     14      
9     Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling     14      
10     Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step     12    

NetApp-Endura's Cesare Benedetti won the mountain jersey, lost it, and now has gained it back.

1     Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetApp-Endura     13     pts
2     Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida     10      
3     Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi     10      
4     Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling     9      
5     Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha     5      
6     Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ     5      
7     Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team     4      
8     Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia     4      
9     Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia     3      
10     Dario Cataldo (Ita) Sky Procycling     3     

Michal Kwiatkowski of OPQS may have lost the race lead, but is still best young rider.

1     Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step     22:12:17      
2     Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling     0:10:40      
3     Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team     0:10:48      
4     Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ     0:14:53      
5     Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano     0:16:40      
6     Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling     0:20:25      
7     Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling     0:25:06      
8     Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Sky Procycling     0:28:03      
9     Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team     0:30:46      
10     Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre-Merida     0:31:10      
 

Kessiakoff and Agnoli of Astana are the next to abandon.

The only news coming through from the race seems to be rain, abandons and a gap of some 4 minutes.

Mauro Santambrogio moved to Vini Fantini this year, from BMC, and it looks like that was a good decision. He is currently in sixth place here, only 52 seconds down.

OPQS confirms that Terpstra and Van Keirsbulck have also abandoned.

I am abandoning too, but CN will still be here, as Dan Benson is stepping in to take over.

79km remaining from 209km

A reminder of who is in the break:

The heavy rain continues though, hence why we've seen so many riders pull out today.

Cancellara in the break is a clear  sign that he's trying to hone his form ahead of Milan San Remo. Second for the last two years, and previous winner of the race, he's desperate to kick start his year with a win.

Cancellara comes through at the head of the br.ak and takes a long pull. The problem with so many riders in the break is that cohesion is so hard to create. The gap has come down to 3'22.

Visconti is only 3 minutes off the leader's jersey so Sky, who are setting the pace have to watch out. They also need to keep one eye on Contador who is just 20 seconds down on Froome.

68km remaining from 209km

The rain continues to fall on the peloton, while at the finish things are a little brighter. Rain is forecast for later though.

Boom, another rider with a chance at the Classics, comes through and takes a turn at the head of the break. There are perhaps a handful of riders at the back of the break who've not taken a pull in a while.

Boom, another rider with a chance at the Classics, comes through and takes a turn at the head of the break. There are perhaps a handful of riders at the back of the break who've not taken a pull in a while.

Cancellara drifts to the back and lets the tail-enders know that their lack of support hasn't gone unnoticed.

O'Grady the third yellow jersey rider in the break after Cancellara and Nocentini comes through and takes a long pull on the front. The gap is hovering at the 3 minute mark with 59km to go.

Sky still lead the peloton. No sign of Katusha or Contador and his Saxo Bank team yet but there's still a long way to go. The final 4km are flat but the terrain before the finish is very testing. The break are on an incline that stretches well over 10 per cent .

It's Nocentini who sets the pace. He's been in good form at the start of the season and he'll be looking to carry that condition into Milan Sanremo. He's a decent outsider for the win actually.

The peloton are closing in the climb now too with Sky still controlling affairs.

Nibali is close to the front and is giving Sky a bit of grief. The Astana rider cracked yesterday but he'll surely try and test Froome on the technical descents.

The conditions, combined with the number of riders who have pulled out, means there are only 50 odd riders in the main field. Is that a little disrespectful to the race? Let  me know here.

The break tackles another short sharp climb with all the riders spread out over the road. Visconti sets a tempo that all the riders can follow though.

The break has lost 30 seconds, mainly due to the tougher terrain they're taking on.

The climb is so tough that the riders can't really get out of the saddle. A few riders from the break have been tailed off and gaps are starting to form from the lead group.

Dumoulin is leading the break with a small gap over Cunego who will be looking for vital KOM points.

The two riders link up just after the finish and they'll try and press on.

A slight gap for Dumoulin and Cunego. The burly Argos rider takes most of the workload on the flat and then on the climbs Cunego takes over. They're working well together but there's such a long way to go.

Cunego takes off his rain jacket and tosses it to the side of the road. The Italian was in the break yesterday and tried a similar move with a late attack. Sky caught him in the finale and dropped him before the finish.

Lars Boom and few other riders from the break have been pegged back.

A race motorbike stacks it on the left hand side of the road. Luckily the driver is back up and none of the riders were taken out by the crash.

Cunego and his breakaway partner are on the next climb which reaches stretches of 30 per cent. There's no way they can get out of the saddle, especially on the slipper roads.

Cunego is pulling away from Tom Dumoulin but he's not making it look easy.

It's more like Fleche Wallone out there than Tirreno, such are the huge crowds on the 30 per cent gradients.

45km remaining from 209km

Riders all over the road now as the peloton tackle the climb. Froome still has a number of teammates with him but this is going to be so hard to control.

Tom Dumoulin makes it back to Cunego's wheel and the pair will link up once again.

41km remaining from 209km

Dumoulin again does the majority of the work on the flat section as Cunego takes over on the climbs. The remnants of the break is about 20 seconds back but this pair aren't waiting.

Cunego is shying away from his turn on the latest incline though.

Cancellara has been dropped and is sitting up and waiting for the break.

Cunego finally comes through on the toughest incline and Dumoulin has to respond.

Nocentini has slipped back and is about to be swallowed up by the bunch. Cunego and Tom Dumoulin still have 2'29.

Liquigas has now come to the front of the peloton though and they're setting the pace and allowing Sky to regroup.

Cunego and  Dumoulin have been pegged back by a number of the riders still in the break. Impey, Visconti, Martinez among them.

31km remaining from 209km

Cannondale has strung the field out and are doing all the work. Sagan is in the lead group but if he wants to win today he's surely going to have to get the better of riders like Contador and Rodriguez who will try to attack in the finale.

27km remaining from 209km

25km remaining from 209km

1'28 for the break  but Cannondale have their number.

Tom Dumoulin has attacked from the group but it's Cunego who is bringing him back.

1'07 for the leaders with just over 21km to go. Cataldo has sat up, so that's one less rider for Froome to use later in the stage.

Dumoulin has attacked again and this time he manages to break free with a 12 second advantage.

20 seconds for  Dumoulin with the peloton a further 40 seconds back.

Intxausti has launched an attack from the break and is in hot pursuit of the Argos rider. However one more surge from the peloton and it's going to be all over.

191km remaining from 209km

Omega has come to the front as Cunego tries to launch a counter attack.

Onto the final major ascent and Intxausti looks like he's pulling away. The rest of the break are about to shut down by the bunch.

Dumoulin has cracked and his weaving all over the road.

The Argos rider is trying to keep the  momentum going but it's all coming back.

Only Intxausti is clear and he's struggling too.

Contador is chasing at the moment so he's not been able to attack. Sagan was looking good on the climb and things are starting to split up.

Nibali and Horner are the riders on the attack on the descent though with Sanchez trying to get on terms. Intxausti is still clear.

Nibali leads the race now, snaking clear on the wet descent. He's practically sprinting through the bends with Sagan trying to come back with Sanchez as well.

Sanchez, Sagan, Nibali and Intxausti lead the race.

Sagan will need to work, surely the break wont give him an armchair ride all the way to the finish?

Contador looks to be in a chase group but it's not clear if Froome is in the group ahead or the group behind.

Nibali and Sagan push clear meanwhile.

And Contador is leading the chase but it doesn't look like Froome is there.

Contador has two tasks. Catch Nibali, keep clear of Froome.

Froome is in a group with one teammate but he's not with the Contador group. As it stands Sagan and Nibali the two former teammates are leading the race.  Mutual aims here, with Sagan going for the stage and Nibali the GC.

Samuel Sanchez is about to be passed by Rodriguez but there are no time gaps.

Rodriguez is about to make it three leaders as he's about to join up with Nibali and Sagan.

So it's Rodriguez, Sagan and Nibali off the front as the Astana leader tries again.

Nibali is putting in a huge effort to hang onto the overall . Contador is chasing but is all on his own. I think he's cracked. Froome is also on his own. What an epic stage.

Sky are human after all because today they've struggled

Contador is out of the saddle and making a huge effort but he's trying to catch the Horner group.

7km remaining from 209km

Contador is in a second group with Horner and Sanchez for company.

Froome is currently at 51 seconds down on Nibali. The Italian isn't ask for much help as he powers the leaders towards the finish.

Nibali, Rodriguez, Sagan. Is that your podium for Samremo?

Sanchez is working with Contador but they have 32 seconds to pull back. Froome is 55 seconds down on the three leaders.

Cadel Evans has made it to the Froome group but that doesnt really alter much. Nibali is marching towards the overall here. He's 36 ahead of Contador, 56 clear of Froome with 3 km to go.

Contador is really struggling to hold the second group though.

Rodriguez, Nibali and Sagan are working well together though.  Very well and they pull out a couple more seconds.

Contador is out of the saddle and it doesn't look like he can even take a turn.

Sagan should clean up in the sprint but that could have an effect on GC as he'll pick up the bonus seconds Nibali will need. Perhaps we'll see a late move from the Astana leader? 1.7 to go.

Contador has settled a bit in the chase group as Evans leads the Froome group.

Froome's group is closing on the Contador group.

Nibali has a word with Rodriguez as he comes through and takes a turn.

Rodriguez is going to lead out.

And Sagan opens up

No contest, Nibali is second, Rodriguez third.

Here comes the chase group. Santambrogio at 41 seconds, the Froome group come in roughly 8 seconds later. So it looks as though Nibali moves into the lead on GC and Contador takes a few vital seconds off Froome.

It looks as though Nibali moves into the race lead with Froome second and Contador third.

1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
3 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha
4 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Vini Fantini-Selle Italia
5 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
6 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack Leopard
7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
8 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol
9 Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team
10 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano

Here's where we stand on GC. Well post the exact time gaps as soon as we can on our report page, right here.

Thanks for joining us today and tune in tomorrow for the final stage of this year's race.

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