Giro d'Italia (st. 6)

Spaniard from Movistar Team one step off decisive move at San Giovanni Rotondo's finish; sits now in 4th place overall as Andrey jumps over main GC contenders.

Two days after their maiden stage success at this year’s Giro d’Italia, the Movistar Team spent most of stage six -one of the longest in this year’s race, 238km from Cassino to San Giovanni Rotondo- in the mix for a second one. José Joaquín Rojas and Andrey Amador were part of a thirteen-man break which turned the tables in the overall classification, with Fausto Masnada (ANS) taking the day’s victory ahead of the new Maglia Rosa, Valerio Conti (UAD).

The escape, formed 60km into the race after an eventful first hour -including a crash which affected Mikel Landa, with no physical consequence- reached the foot of the climb of Coppa Casarinelle (Cat-2), with a gap of nearly six minutes, enough to contest the win. The 15km ascent saw the two leaders opening half a minute’s gap over a three-man counter with Rojas, Rubén Plaza (ICA) and Giovanni Carboni (BRD). The Spaniard unsuccessfully worked hard to bring back a duo which crossed the line 38″ before José Joaquín (3rd) and nearly a minute ahead of Amador (9th).

Rojas sits now in 4th place overall, as Amador also enters the top-ten with around two minutes over former leader Primoz Roglic (TJV), three days before the important San Marino ITT. The Giro will continue to seek for the climbs on Friday, with a tricky finish in L’Aquila (185km) featuring several short, steep ascents.

REACTION / José Joaquín Rojas:

“In the beginning, pretty much everyone wanted to get into the break. However, there was a crash including Roglic, Mikel and several more riders. The peloton eased off to let them rejoin, and so the real break was formed as they bridged back. There was an initial move with myself and five, six other riders, including Plaza and Conti, and later on Andrey made it across. Once the escape was formed, it was about building a gap before the Cat-2 climb, so we could fight for the stage win between ourselves.

“Seeing that there was a slight headwind into the climb, I thought I had to be more cautious, not spend all my bullets into a single burst, because there were so many strong climbs. I felt good, but I didn’t think it was enough to go on full steam from the foot of the climb. In the end, the first attack was enough. Seeing that they were leaving us behind, I tried to counter several times solo, but they always came after me. I later took advantage of Rubén Plaza making his move stick to bridge across and join him, together with Carboni. We were just full gas, giving our very best, but it wasn’t to be today. We didn’t react when we needed to, yet even if Conti and Masnada were strong, I don’t feel they were stronger than us, because the gap when I got to Plaza and the one at the finish were the same.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling. I had the legs, yet I don’t feel there will be many opportunities like this one for my in this Giro. My task here is to work for Mikel and Richard, and we will continue to do so. Overall, I’m happy, because I feeling strong in this Giro.”

Cover picture (c): BettiniPhoto