The 2025 Giro d’Italia continues with stage six, the longest stage of this year’s edition at 226km – 75km more than Wednesday’s rather trim stage five.
In theory it’s another one for the sprinters, bringing an end to a trilogy of stages for the fast men before the GC battle proper gets underway with Friday’s stage seven.
Race leader Mads Pedersen has been the sprinting supremo of this year’s race so far, and he underlined his seriously impressive form by securing a hat-trick of victories on stage five – and winning his first in the leader’s maglia rosa.
He’ll be another likely contender today but the pure sprinters – the likes of Visma-Lease a Bike’s Olav Kooij – will be hopeful they can get the better of the Dane on the flat run-in to the line, with all the day’s climbing (2,500m of it) happening before the last 60km.
Follow all the action with The Independent’s liveblog here:
Breakaway lead falling (94km to go)
Zana needs a bike change too after that crash. Neither he nor Hamilton look hurt thankfully.
We hear on TNT Sports comms that it’s not currently raining in Naples, but there’s still a long way to go before we get there and it’s pretty wet in Avellino, the ancient city in Campania that the peloton is currently passing through.
Steven Kruijswijk is on the front for Visma, doing a sterling job, and the breakaway’s lead is down to 1:40 or so.
Crash! (102km to go)
It felt inevitable on these wet, slippery roads. Ineos Grenadiers’ Lucas Hamilton and Jayco AlUla’s Filippo Zana slide out on a descent.
Zana is up and running quickly and after a bike change Hamilton gingerly pedals away too.
Gap steady (106km to go)
It’s as you were as the kilometres tick by. We’re over halfway through but there’s still 106km to go. The peloton are two minutes behind the pair of escapees, with Alpecin and Visma continuing to pull in the bunch.
Today’s stage is quite the slog but go back a hundred years and it was a lot worse. Stage 6 of the 1914 edition lasted for 19 hours and 20minutes, with the riders setting off at midnight to ride 428km from Bari to L’Aquila.
Luigi Natale Lucotti won that one, although I’m sure anyone can be said to have truly won, having endured that experience.
Giro-fever reaches Monaco
Prince Albert II of Monaco has been getting in on the Giro action too, picking up a jersey in Pompeii earlier today.
Scenery check
Another day, more stunning Italian scenery.
Paleni wins intermediate sprint (137km to go)
No drama here either as Paleni rolls over the sprint at Lioni ahead of van der Hoorn, neither bothered about the result. 12 and eight points for them respectively.
There’s more of a fight behind: Pedersen opens up his sprint early and looks to have the beating of Kooij and Jensen Plowright, but he knocks it off too early and Plowright hops round him for five points, with Kooij putting in a late dig for three to shave off two off Pedersen’s lead. The pink jersey mops up the last one.
Intermediate sprint approaching (139km to go)
One kilometre until the second intermediate sprint of the day. Pedersen leads the points standings with 140 points; Olav Kooij is second on 52, so even without a win today (worth 50 points) Pedersen is in the clear.
Alpecin move forward (141km to go)
Alpecin-Deceuninck move forward to help out Visma-Lease a Bike, with Jimmy Janssens now setting the pace. They’ll be teeing up Kaden Groves for the sprint.
Primoz Roglic is having an easy day of it, sheltered in a phalanx of Red Bull riders, all wearing rain jackets helpfully emblazoned with their sponsors’ names so they’re easy to spot. The Slovenian gives the camera a smile and a wave. He’s looked incredibly relaxed this whole race so far.
Bit of a lull in proceedings as the riders take on some fuel.
Fortunato drops back (147km to go)
What could make the Giro’s longest stage more fun, than some rain. The heavens have opened already.
Fortunato may have something wrong with his bike as he calls for help from the neutral service car, but it looks like his day is done anyway after picking up 18 points on the day’s biggest climb. He drops back and is waiting to be absorbed by the peloton while his former breakaway companions press on.
Visma aren’t making big inroads into this lead, as it stabilises around the 3:15 mark.
Onto the descent (160km to go)
Rain jackets are on in the bunch: the temperatures are much fresher than they have been and the surrounding hills are swathed in cloud. There have been spots of rain so far but it could be a fair bit damper in Naples.
Visma-Lease a Bike are leading the peloton on another long, sweeping descent.
