Miguel Rubiano (Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela) secured a superb solo victory on stage six of the Giro d’Italia after launching a bid for glory some 40km from the finish in Porto Sant’Elpido.
Rubiano was part of a 15-rider breakaway which went clear early in the stage and the Colombian escaped from the group on the category three climb of Montelupone before soloing to the finish.
Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD), who in 2011 finished dead last in the Giro, moved into the overall lead after finishing second on the stage in a four-strong group ahead of the chasing peloton, with previous leader Ramunas Navardauskus out of contention after being dropped earlier in the stage.
The day looked made for a breakaway, with a stage profile like a saw blade; roads rising or descending for the full 210 kilometres, which included four categorised climbs but also a host of short, steep roads.
And a strong group duly went clear within the first 45km and soon built a lead of more than five minutes. That group was reduced to 11 by the time the leaders reached the first climb of the day: the category three ascent of Cingoli.
Pablo Lastras (Movistar) attacked on the next climb, the category two Passo della Cappella, which rose to 772m, but it was Rubiano, who would end the day at the top of the King of the Mountains classification, who was first over the summit.
Lastras, who has won stages in all three Grand Tours, crashed on the descent and was one of a number of high-profile abandonments, alongside including 2010 world champion Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing), Garmin-Barracuda sprinter Tyler Farrar and Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM), who was among the riders who crashed on stage three.
Rubiano was caught then caught by the four riders remaining from the original break but the Colombian attacked again on the day’s second category three climb and went over the final categorised ascent with a 45-second lead, with the peloton more than four minutes adrift and with just 40km remaining.
Rubiano extended his lead to one minute and 20 seconds on the road to Porto Sant’Elpido and, with victory all but secure, thoughts began to turn to who would end the day in the maglia rosa.
Rubiano, who secured a 20-second time bonus for victory, would be required to finish nearly one and a half minutes ahead of Malori in the chasing group to move into the leader’s jersey, while, back in the peloton, Garmin-Barracuda took to the front in a bid to reduce the gap to put Ryder Hesjedal in pink.
But the chasing group held strong in the final kilometres to reduce Rubiano’s winning margin to put Malori in pink after Garmin’s efforts to close the gap failed.
Giro d’Italia stage six – result
1) Miguel Rubiano (COL) – Androni – 5:38:30 hours
2) Adriano Malori (ITA) – Lampre-ISD +1’10”
3) Michal Golas (POL) – Omega Pharma-QuickStep – same time
4) Alexsandr Dyachenko (KAZ) – Astana
5) Cesare Benedetti (ITA) – Team NetApp
6) Daryl Impey (RSA) – Orica-GreenEDGE +1’51”
7) Filippo Pozzato (ITA) – Farnese Vini-Selle Italia
8) Fabio Sabatini (ITA) – Liquigas-Cannondale
9) Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (SPA) – Movistar
10) Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) – Omega Pharma-QuickStep
General classification
1) Adriano Malori (ITA) – Lampre-ISD 20:25:28 hours
2) Michal Golas (POL) – Omega Pharma-QuickStep +15″
3) Ryder Hesjedal (CAN) – Garmin-Barracuda +17″
4) Miguel Rubiano COL) – Androni +30″
5) Christian Vande Velde (USA) – Garmin-Barracuda +32″
6) Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (SPA) Katusha +36″
7) Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin-Barracuda +37″
8) Daniel Moreno Fernandez (SPA) Katusha +39″
9) Enrico Gasparotto (ITA) – Astana – same time
10) Luke Roberts (AUS) – SaxoBank +41″
