Giro d’Italia: Jungels retains maglia rosa

Bob Jungels retains the pink jersey on stage 6 with Thomas and Yates sitting in the top three just behind the Quickstep rider

Giro d’Italia: Jungels retains maglia rosa

On a stage which had the breakaway in the spotlight, the Luxembourger finished safely in the pack, after being protected by the team throughout the entire day.

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Bob Jungels continues to enjoy life in pink at the Giro d’Italia, as he successfully defended the coveted jersey for another day, one which took the peloton from Reggio Calabria to Terme Luigiane, over a 217km-long course peppered with two small classified climbs. Once the breakaway was formed minutes after the start, Quick-Step Floors assembled itself around the 24-year-old, keeping him out of the wind which at one point threatened to impact the stage.

Fernando Gaviria, who pulled on the maglia ciclamino following his emphatic win on stage 5, was among the ones setting the pace in the bunch, together with the likes of Eros Capecchi, Dries Devenyns or Iljo Keisse, as the five-man breakaway went all the way to the line, where Silvan Dillier (BMC) beat Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) in an uphill sprint.

The peloton arrived together 39 seconds behind the escapees, despite some late charges of several riders, and Bob Jungels crossed the line in eighth place, for his third top-10 stage finish at the 100th Giro d’Italia, helding onto the six-second lead for another day and matching his performance at the 2016 Corsa Rosa, when he was in control of the general classification for three consecutive days.

“Having a breakaway with no rider posing any danger to the general classification was the perfect situation for us. We were hoping the escape will go all the way, so that they mop up the bonus seconds. In the peloton, all I had to do was keep a close eye on my opponents in the closing kilometers, which worked out well. So far, it’s been a great race for us, we have pink, white and ciclamino, and we’ll continue enjoying these moments”, explained Bob Jungels in Terme Luigiane.
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Until when can he hold the maglia rosa? The Luxembourger answered to this question at the post-stage press conference: “As I’ve already said, I hope to keep the maglia rosa until Sunday, when we’ll arrive on Blockhaus. We’ll see there how I’ll cope with the climb, but the good things is that two days later the Giro schedules an ITT, where I will have an opportunity to gain time on the climbers.”

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky): “The break going clear meant it was a bit less stressful. Although it was still pretty stressful! There might have been splits so everyone was wanting to be at the front and super on it.”

Adam Yates (Scott Orica): “I felt pretty good at the end there but the break stayed away,” Yates said. “With a stage like this it’s always a bit of a gamble as to if the sprinters can get over, if it’s for the climbers or for the punchier riders.”

“The stage was almost 220km so you’d be working all day for a gamble that might not even come off. No teams really wanted to chase. It was only really Cannondale and in the end Michael Woods was first across the line in our group so it would’ve have been worth it for them.”

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GC so far …
1. Bob Jungels Quick-Step Floors2028:20:47
2. Geraint Thomas Team Sky 0:06
3. Adam Yates ORICA-Scott 0:10
4. Vincenzo Nibali Bahrain Merida Pro
5. Domenico Pozzovivo AG2R La Mondiale
6. Nairo Quintana Movistar Team
7. Tom Dumoulin Team Sunweb
8. Bauke Mollema Trek – Segafredo
9. Tejay van Garderen BMC Racing Team
10. Andrey Amador Movistar Team