Home > News

Escapee Pelayo Sánchez conquers Giro d’Italia’s Tuscan gravel stage

Julian Alaphilippe comes close to completing Grand Tour stage trilogy

May 9, 2024
Share on SMS

For the second consecutive day the breakaway that formed in the latter half of the course prevailed at the Giro d’Italia, Pelayo Sánchez taking Thursday’s Giro d’Italia stage raced on some of the white gravel roads of Tuscany used in Strade Bianche. In the biggest win of his career, Movistar’s Sánchez beat Julian Alaphilippe in a three-man sprint. Tadej Pogačar stayed safe in pink.

The Course

Wednesday’s stage, in which a four-man breakaway that formed in the second half of the race defied the peloton and gave Cofidis its first win of the entire season via Benjamin Thomas, whet the appetite for Thursday’s action. After a flat start, Stage 6 featured 11.6 km of gravel in the final third of 177 km. The Cat. 4 Grotti climb itself is gravel and has ramps up to 14 percent. With 5 km to go the Serre di Rapulano wall, around 800 meters and reaching slopes up to 20 percent, promised to crack more riders. There was a 6 percent rise to the line.

Before the start Israel-Premier Tech announced that Stage 5 crashers Michael Woods and Riley Pickrell both abandoned the race due to the concussion protocol. The team lost three riders in two days.

Frenetic activity marked the first half of the route, with Alaphilippe part of a escape trio that crested the first categorized climb just ahead of the UAE-Emirates-pulled peloton. The sprinters were lagging behind. A larger move bridged over to the Alaphilippe set with 95 km to go. This mob was yanked back, but an Alaphilippe septet immediately skipped clear and this combination was allowed a longer leash.

With 68 km to go, the gap was large enough that fugitive Luke Plapp, Australian champion, was in the virtual pink jersey.

Luke Plapp led Paris-Nice back in March and was in virtual pink on Thursday.

By the time the breakaway hit the first gravel section, 4.4-km Vidritta, its lead was 3:00. The grit was crunching in everyone’s teeth.

The peloton hits the first gravel section.

Hard on the heels of Vidritta came the Bagnaia sector with the Grotti climb. Points classification and Stage 4 victor Jonathan Milan, one of the earlier dropped sprinters, drove the field for a while before disappearing. Up front Plapp, Alaphilippe and Sánchez split the breakaway group. On the climb, a slow-motion touch of wheels delayed several of the GC favourites. By the top of Grotti, the gap was down to 1:30.

The sometimes-bickering trio’s gap rose again on the way to the final sector, a road that rose and fell. Plapp took virtual pink again. With 12 km to go, despite Ineos and UAE-Emirates’ efforts, and Alaphilippe and Sánchez almost eating it in a roundabout, the gap stayed favourable.

At the Serre di Rapulano wall Plapp attacked, drawing Sánchez and Alaphilippe’s counterattack that put him in trouble.

Pelayo Sánchez makes a dig on Serre di Rapulano.

Plapp led under the red kite. Alaphilippe, hungry to add a Giro win to his Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana victories, pounced from the back, but Sánchez came around him and claimed the day’s flowers, shaking his head in disbelief. Plapp moved up to 15th on GC. Most of the GC men finished 29 seconds behind the winner.

Friday is the heftiest of the two time trials: 40.6 km with a 6-km Cat. 4 ascent at the very end.

2024 Giro d’Italia Stage 6
1) Pelayo Sánchez (Spain/Movistar) 4:01:08
2) Julian Alaphilippe (France/Soudal-Quick Step) s.t.
3) Lucas Plapp (Australia/Jayco-AlUla) +0:01

2024 Giro d’Italia Stage GC
1) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenian/UAE-Emirates) 23:20:52
2) Geraint Thomas (Great Britain/Ineos) +0:46
3) Dani Martinez (Colombia/Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:47