Race leader Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) won stage six of the Giro d’Italia after a huge crash in the peloton caused big splits in the bunch as it approached the Montecassino.
Matthews was one of just eight riders to stay clear, with he and Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) safe in the leading group, with team-mates for support, on the second category climb.
Perhaps unaware of the carnage behind them, the eight pushed on to produce some big gaps to Evans’ GC rivals – Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) one of the riders in apparent discomfort as he crawled up the ascent.
Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) was among the injured riders further back, leaving the course in an ambulance and wearing a neck brace.
At the front though, Matthews stayed on Evans’ wheel before coming round him and sprinting to the stage win, beating Tim Wellens (Lotto-Belisol) in to second, while Evans took third.
A gruelling 247km stage had already been made even tougher before racing even started when organisers announced an uncleared landslide had forced them to divert and extend the route by ten kilometres.
Facing nearly 260km in the saddle, it was little surprise to find the pace in the bunch was low as the stage started and the day’s break was allowed to earn a big advantage.
The WorldTour teams opted against getting riders up the road, with each of the wildcard teams represented by one rider instead – Marco Bandiera (Androni Giacotolli-Venezuela), Andrea Fedi (Neri Sottoli), Edoardo Zardini (Bardiani-CSF) and Rodolfo Torres (Colombia).
Orica-GreenEDGE, protecting Matthews, and Team Sky – whose ambitions initially remained unclear – led the bunch but they were happy to let the four riders go well clear, their lead reaching 14 minutes at one point.
The sedate pace continued, with plenty of chatting between the riders, and the only disruption came as the intermediate sprint approached.
With the four escapees having taken all-but-one of the points on offer, Elia Viviani (Cannondale), Ben Swift (Team Sky), and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) took off, but Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani-CSF) played the role of spoiler – snatching the sprint and pulling faces at the camera to celebrate.
Back in the bunch, the pace remained high enough to cut into the escapees’ lead – which fell gradually as the climb of Montecassino approached – but with no real pressure on the front.
With rain, once again, falling as they approached the climb, the catch was finally made just short of the climb but crashes in the bunch caused carnage on the road.
Janez Brajkovic (Astana) collided with a barrier and remained sat on the grass verge while Caruso hit the deck very hard, resulting in him leading the race in an ambulance with a neck brace on.
Andrey Amador (Movistar), Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEDGE), Rick Flens (Belkin) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) were all also caught up in the crash, while Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani-CSF) crawled up the climb with the help of a team-mate.
The upshot was a group of eight riders going clear: Evans, Matthews, and Ivan Santaromita (Orica-GreenEDGE) among them.
Both Evans and Matthews had two team-mates for support, who pulled hard on the front for them, while Omega Pharma-Quickstep and Movistar led the chase behind.
The gap stood at 30 seconds as they pushed hard up the climb, with television cameras picking up Rodriguez looking uncomfortable on the way up much further back.
Robert Kiserlovski (Trek Factory Racing) attacked off the front of the chasing group, while Evans attacked the leading group.
Matthews, Tim Wellens (Lotto-Belisol) and Matteo Rabottini (Neri Sottoli) went with him, as the Aussie veteran set a great speed up the climb.
It was his junior compatriot who took up the sprint however, beating Wellens and Evans to the stage win.
Further back, attention turned to the gap to the chasing group, Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) leading them home some 48 seconds later.
Giro d’Italia 2014: stage six – result
1) Michael Matthews (AUS) – Orica-GreenEDGE – 6.37.01hrs
2) Tim Wellens (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol – ST
3) Cadel Evans (AUS) – BMC Racing
4) Matteo Rabottini (ITA) – Neri Sottoli
5) Ivan Santaromita (ITA) – Orica-GreenEDGE +13”
6) Steve Morabito (SUI) – BMC Racing +23”
7) Wilco Kelderman (NED) – Belkin Pro Cycling +49”
8) Mauro Finetto (ITA) – Neri Sottoli – ST
9) Diego Ulissi (ITA) – Lampre-Merida
10) Fabio Duarte (COL) – Team Colombia
General classification (provisional)
1) Michael Matthews (AUS) – Orica-GreenEDGE
2) Cadel Evans (AUS) – BMC Racing +21″
3) Rigoberto Uran (COL) – Omega Pharma-Quickstep +1.18
4) Steve Morabito (SUI) – BMC Racing +1.25
5) Matteo Rabottini (ITA) – Neri Sottoli – ST
6) Ivan Santaromita (ITA) – Orica-GreenEDGE +1.47
7) Fabio Aru (ITA) – Astana +1.51
8) Tim Wellens (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol +1.52
9) Ivan Basso (ITA) – Cannondale +2.06
10) Nairo Quintana (COL) – Movistar +2.08
