Tirreno-Adriatico (st. 6)
Nairo Quintana -perfectly supported by Movistar Team- covers stage six in Tirreno without any problems, will enjoy 50" margin into 10km ITT in San Benedetto del Tronto on Tuesday; Colombian tackles time trial as "a test" on condition more than path to second overall win
The Movistar Team covered Nairo Quintana with enormous solvency on stage six of Tirreno-Adriatico, a rolling 168km journey down to the sea, from Ascoli Piceno to a closing circuit in Civitanova Marche, where Fernando Gaviria (QST) claimed the win in an inevitable bunch sprint finish. It was the prelude to the long-awaited, decisive 10km individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto, on Tuesday.
Nairo continues to hold the 50-second advantage he had on Sunday against Frenchman Thibaut Pinot (FDJ). Considering the slim, 22" advantage the latter put on the 'Cóndor de Boyacá' (who in turn clocked a time 55" slower than the winner's, Fabian Cancellara) over the very same course in 2015 -the route consisting of long, wide straight-, only misfortune should be able to stop Quintana claiming a second overall success in the 'Race of the Two Seas.'
"We didn't want to concede any seconds before Tuesday's TT, and that's why we always kept the group together at the front," briefly explained Nairo on the day's endeavours. "We just wanted to avoid any danger, and we crossed the finish line OK, so we can say that the team was great again today", praised on the work by team-mates Moreno, Dowsett, Sütterlin, Bennati, Amador, Oliveira and also Jonathan Castroviejo, who will seek for a stage win tomorrow and an improvement on his current, eighth-place GC result. "Regarding myself ", wrapped up Quintana, "I just hope to do a nice time trial, to do some testing on my TT condition, and do everything right to secure the win."