Stage 6 Preview and Results

Stage 6: Orvieto → Fiuggi Terme
Date: Thursday, May 12
Distance: 216 km

Stage 6 start time: Thursday 11:55 CET (9:55:00 AM GMT+0000); Weather for Orvieto, Italy
Earliest live video: 15:05 CET (1:05:00 PM GMT+0000); Live/delayed coverage options
Approximate finish: 17:14 CET (3:14:00 PM GMT+0000); Weather for Fiuggi Terme, Italy

Stage 6 results: Francisco Ventoso (Movistar Team) wins the exhausting uphill sprint finish in Fiuggi

Stage 6 results
1  Francisco Ventoso  (Movistar Team)        5:15:39
2  Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) 
3  Roberto Ferrari (Androni) 
4  Danilo di Luca (Katusha) 
5  Davide Appollonio (Sky) 
6  Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) 
7  Christophe Le Mevel (Garmin-Cervélo) 
8  Gerald Ciolek (Quick Step) 
9  Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) 
10 Ruggero Marzoli (Acqua&Sapone) 

General classification after Stage 6
1  Pieter Weening (Rabobank)             20:15:12
2  Kanstantin Siutsou (HTC-Highroad)       + 0:02
3  Marco Pinotti (HTC-Highroad) 
4  Christophe Le Mevel (Garmin-Cervélo)    + 0:05
5  Pablo Lastras (Movistar Team)           + 0:22
6  Vicenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale)    + 0:24
7  Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD)           + 0:26
8  Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank)            + 0:28
9  Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard)    + 0:30
10 José Serpa (Androni Giocattoli)         + 0:33

Stage 6 preview: Orvieto → Fiuggi Terme, 216 km (rolling-hilly)

Is the stage 6 finish in Fiuggi Terme at the gates of paradise? (photo credit: emy82)

May 10 post: The riders probably wish this stage was scheduled before a rest day because the finish takes place in a spa town, Fiuggi Terme. Long ago, this town got glowing endorsements that a tourism board nowadays can only dream about. In the 13th century, Pope Boniface VIII claimed his kidney stones had been healed by the mineral waters from the nearby Fiuggi spring and two centuries later Michelangelo also extolled the virtues of the water that cured him of what he called "the only kind of stone I couldn't love." (wikipedia). Who knew Mick had a good sense of humor?

Stage 6 starts to the north in yesterday's (stage 5) finish host, Orvieto, before heading south towards Rome. But, before hitting the suburbs of Rome we'll veer southeast and head to Fiuggi. In 1996, Stage 9 of the Giro finished in Fiuggi after an approach from the south (Naples). Thursday's route from the north will have a relentless amount of rolling but there is only one categorized climb, a cat 4 in the first half of the stage which hits a modest 450m elevation. The highest point of the day will be the finish in Fiuggi (616m el).

As you can see from the finish profile link below, there is a 4% section 10 km from the finish stretching 5 km with the final 5 km consisting of rollers before the last 500m turns up to 4% again.

On further reflection, this finish may be too gradual for a power climber. In 1996, the Tirreno-Adriatico finished in Fiuggi and the results show some good sprinters and classic riders at the top but I'm not sure where the finish was. Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini) is a good sprinter and he finished 5th on Wednesday's tougher Stage 5 climb so he'd be a good outside bet for a dead-legs sprint finish. Gatto finished second behind Matt Goss in the 1st Stage of Giro delle Regione (a U23 race) in 2006 when both were in their early twenties so he should remember the finish in Fiuggi. — Steve

Last (Ultimi) Km Profile
Race Director Angelo Zomegnan Previews Stage 6 (1:00 Italian) — gazzetta