Tirreno-Adriatico: Gaviria wins in Civitanova Marche

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Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) held off a fast charging Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) to take victory in Civitanova Marche on the penultimate stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) came through on their coattails to take the third spot.

It was a fast and furious finish that didn't always look like it was in the control of the sprinters' teams but Quick-Step Floors maintained a presence in most of the action, ensuring they had a card to play whatever the conclusion.

An attack from Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), which was initially marked by Quick-Step's Bob Jungels, saw Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo) and Niki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors) jump clear with just under eight kilometres to go. Sagan tried to follow but Gaviria was smart enough to get onto his wheel.

The acceleration neutralised Felline and Terpstra's move as the route turned back onto the seafront with less than three kilometres remaining. Quick-Step, with the assistance of fellow Belgian outfit Lotto Soudal, bullied the peloton through the last few twists and turns. The high speed and tight turns caused a split in the bunch with around 15 riders, including Gaviria and Sagan, breaking clear within the final kilometre.

Gaviria still had plenty of support from his teammates and was unleashed by a good lead-out from Matteo Trentin. It looked like perhaps he had got it wrong as Sagan moved right to go around the Colombian but he had the pace to keep the world champion at bay and take the win.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) finished safely in the main bunch to keep his lead in the overall classification. He leads Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) by 50 seconds with Rohan Dennis in third at 1:06 with just a time trial to come.

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How it happened

After two gruelling days over the weekend, the terrain eased up as Tirreno-Adriatico approached its climax. There have not been many chances for the true sprinters in the 2017 edition, but this was expected to be one of those. Stage 6 would bring the peloton 168 kilometres from Ascoli Piceno to Civitanova Marche on the Macerata coast.

Having won on the Terminillo on Saturday, Quintana sat atop the standings in the morning and would be hoping for an easy day out before the concluding time trial on Tuesday.

The rest of the peloton was in much the same mind as the race leader, and they allowed a seven-man move escape almost immediately. There were a few familiar names amongst them with Alan Marangoni (Nippo-vini Fantini), Davide Ballerini, Raffaello Bonusi (Androni Giocattoli), Mirco Maestri (Bardiani-CSF) all making it into the break for the umpteenth time. Simone Andreetta (Androni Giocattoli), Ben Gastauer (AG2R La Mondiale) and Jonas Henttala (Novo Nordisk) completed the make-up of the initial attacking group. Katusha-Alpecin's Pavel Kochetkov was stuck in no man's land for some time before making contact with the seven up front.

Dimension Data assumed the front of the peloton for much of the day, keen to give Cavendish a chance at contesting a sprint, and giving Movistar a bit of a break. Meanwhile, Orica-Scott's bad week continued as Luke Durbridge climbed off early in the day. The team has already lost several riders, including their sprinter Caleb Ewan.

A few riders lighter, the peloton forged on, and after allowing the move to close in on the three-minute mark, they brought it back down to much closer to two minutes. Their progress was halted though when they were forced to wait for several minutes at a level crossing, allowing the breakaway to carry on unhindered.

The peloton was back on its merry way when the race jury decided that they needed to level the playing field and stopped the breakaway less than a kilometre from the top of the solitary classified climb of the day. After a short hiatus, they were given the green light, and Marangoni took the points with no competition.

During the confusion, the advantage had ballooned past five minutes but it was brought back under three by the stoppage on the climb and would carry on tumbling in the second half of the stage. With 35 kilometres to go, Henttala became the first of the eight-man break to falter, and the remaining escapees had less than a minute on the pack, who had the bit between their teeth.

With the second of the intermediate sprints at 14 kilometres to go, the remainder of the breakaway resisted the chase as long as they could. The entry into Civitanova Marche was at times tight and technical, and the peloton was more than happy to leave them out there. Maestri brought them across the finish line for the first time to take the points again at the intermediate sprint. It would not be enough to take the points classification, with Sagan mopping up plenty at the finish.

The peloton continued to slowly but surely eat away at the gap but tired of the pace, Vincenzo Nibali decided to take things into his hands. The Italian put in a big dig, forcing several riders to chase and the peloton to string out. Nibali went again but could not break the elastic. However, his efforts brought back all but two of the breakaway.

Ballerini and Gastauer were the only two holding out, but a counter attack from Felline soon reeled them in. The Italian brought with him Matteo Cattaneo (Androni Giocattoli) and then Terpstra. Behind them, a flurry of action led to Sagan trying to break free with Gaviria.

Aware of the world champion looming behind, Terpstra attacked his break companions, and only the in-form Felline could initially go with him. The attacks were eventually neutralised on the run along the seafront, with Orica-Scott leading the way at just over two kilometres to go, and it would come down to the sprinters after all.

Lotto Soudal drove the race home, forcing a split in the peloton in the final kilometre. They would not reap the rewards though as Gaviria sailed to the win ahead of Sagan. 

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