Tirreno-Adriatico (st. 6)

Spaniards from Movistar Team stay 3rd, 10th in Tirreno-Adriatico after no changes in day six; 10km individual time trial will decide overall standings on Tuesday.

German Marcel Kittel (TKA) claimed his second stage victory in the 2018 Tirreno-Adriatico, a 153km route from Numana to Fano which was led for most of the day’s route by fellow countryman Marcus Burghardt (BOH) on a solo action.

The Movistar Team focused its efforts on keeping Mikel Landa and Jaime Rosón, the Blues’ two main GC references, well protected so they could keep their top-ten positions. Except for a crash with 30km to go by Portuguese Nelson Oliveira, with no physical consequence, it was a calm day for the Telefónica-backed squad, in the eve of Tuesday’s decisive ITT.

Landa, still in 3rd place (+23″), and Rosón, now 10th (+47″), will seek to defend or improve their placings over a 10km course in San Benedetto del Tronto, completely flat and with no technical difficulty. Michal Kwiatkowski (SKY) will roll off as last with the ‘Maglia Azzurra’.

— TT start times (Tuesday 13th; all CET): Sütterlin 13.36, Bennati 14.04, Arcas 14.30, Oliveira 14.42, Amador 14.55, Rosón 15.30, Landa 15.44.

Picture (c): Dario Belingheri / BettiniPhoto.net