Giro d’Italia 2021 : Stage 6 – Mader wins from chaos; Valter takes pink

Stage 6 was another chaotic day in Giro d’Italia 2021, with the weather gods soaking chilling riders with pouring rain, sidewinds and a strong headwind on the final climb. The Beast known as Ganna™ then added insult to injury by punishing them kilometre after kilometre. Bahrain Victorious’ Gino Mader eluded the INEOS tractor beam all day and took a solo stage win that so drained him, he couldn’t even do a victory salute for fear he would fall off his bike. Behind him, GC riders had a battle on the final climb, with Egan Bernal (Ineos), Dan Martin (Israel Start-up Nation), Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck QuickStep), and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) coming in together. But it was FDJ’s Attila Valter who wears the maglia rosa tomorrow.

In a nutshell

Break up the road, including Mader, Mollema etc (Mollema fought for a good 10km to get in, so was tired). Around 72km to go, echelons on exposed bit of a mountain plateau. Ganna went Top Ganna &split the peloton to pieces. Final climb, De Marchi gone, Bernal & Remco 🔥 Mader win!

— George Poole (@GeorgePuddle) May 13, 2021

Fans, watching the stage unfold …

#Giro104 #Giro pic.twitter.com/f5SOKZzeYw

— Sadhbh O'Shea (@SadhbhOS) May 13, 2021

Rob Hatch and King Kelly were in the comms booth for the final climbs – priceless!

I don’t know what happened to Sean Kelly during the off season, but he’s come out swinging with daily rants in his Giro commentary.

It’s wonderful!

— Luke (@LukeTheCycliste) May 13, 2021

I swear I thought this is from Pro Cycling Manager, not a screenshot from the race. 🙈😂 #Giro pic.twitter.com/PNQQrHofxD

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) May 13, 2021

It’s Ganna hurt …

While the live feed was down due to weather, INEOS Grenadiers decided to turn up the pressure with about 60km to go. That pressure was in the form of Filippo Ganna, who preceded to pull (the legs off) the peloton for what seemed about 50km.

Filippo Ganna is like a tank, once he starts going, there is no stopping him.

— Paweł Gadzała (@8aldwin) May 13, 2021

Even people who don’t like INEOS (>raises hand<) love Ganna.

… when you say small? pic.twitter.com/dGMR54bpxr

— Issie 💙 (@IssieAtch) May 13, 2021

pic.twitter.com/qVRTGiEx7p

— Simon P. (@thepuncheur) May 13, 2021

It's a bromance I can no longer deny.

— Brett Wallis (@mbwallis) May 13, 2021

He's a real life titan. We can't let him ever know his true powers, otherwise he'll rule us all.

— Will Newton (@InsidePeloton96) May 13, 2021

Top Ganna in short sleeves #Giro

— Hendrik Lemmer (@GrootLem) May 13, 2021

Pippo Ganna finishes his job with 10 km to go. Not before dropping George Bennett, of course. BEAST! #Giro pic.twitter.com/2bZftnYPvQ

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) May 13, 2021

Why, Ciccone, why?

Mystery of the day: why did Giulio Ciccone go into a chase group with Romain Bardet (DSM) and Alberto Bettiol (EF) if he wasn’t going to contribute? So frustrating!

The gap has grown out to 45" between @romainbardet's group and the chasing peloton, although there's not 💯 percent cooperation in the group!⏱

This is exciting stuff! #Giro pic.twitter.com/EGy4QI8jFb

— Team DSM (@TeamDSM) May 13, 2021

Bettiol shouting at Ciccone to help out and I've never seen so much 🤌 in all my life😅#Giro

— Dan Deakins (@DanDeakins) May 13, 2021

#Giro @giuliocicco1 is in between the bunch and the leading breakaway with @BaukeMollema.
They are 2'19" behind the leading group and around ~45secs ahead of the bunch.
Tactics. Tactics.
It appears the Giulio will not ride (no need) and take a free ride and see what unfolds.

— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) May 13, 2021

Ciccone impressive today. Was in the attack with Bettiol and Bardet on the descent using up energy while others sat tight, then when Bernal attacked he could follow with Evenepoel and Dan Martin

— the Inner Ring (@inrng) May 13, 2021

Is #HypeTrain the right hashtag to describe Bardet love?

The Bardet #HypeTrain has left the station and it ain't stopping until it reaches Milan in pink 🚄💗

Allez Romain Allez! https://t.co/5iaekx3FpD

— Will Newton (@InsidePeloton96) May 13, 2021

This guy is the only rider to finish with Bernal in the top GC group on both uphill #Giro finishes so far. Attacked to Sestola, attacked the descent of Forca di Presta today. Giulio Ciccone is looking great! pic.twitter.com/L6Qv9c4Peu

— Daniel Ostanek (@LVCKV) May 13, 2021

WT Actual F?

Speechless. Just speechless!

Team-car driver crashes into rider at #Giro. Rider is back up riding. pic.twitter.com/MUiV31Gjep

— daniel (@cyclingreporter) May 13, 2021

He is back on his bike, but that gave us a huge scare. Hoping @Pieter_Serry is ok after that heart in the mouth moment which happened on the last climb of this #Giro stage.

— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) May 13, 2021

Chasing Mader

As Gino Mader was riding for the stage, he wasn’t the only one who was thinking about Roglic’s 50m catch to pip him to the win in Paris-Nice.

Gino Mader hoping right now that Primoz Roglic isn't a late entry into the #Giro #Giro104

— Sadhbh O'Shea (@SadhbhOS) May 13, 2021

This Giro is not good for my nails. C'mon Mader!!#couchpeloton #sbsgiro #sbscycling

— Dorian H (@The_Wolf71) May 13, 2021

Not Mader checking over his shoulder right to the line 😭 so happy for him! #Giro

— Issie 💙 (@IssieAtch) May 13, 2021

Gino Mader takes his first pro victory on stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia.

— CafeRoubaix (@CafeRoubaix) May 13, 2021

When Giro stage winner Gino Mader busts out the champagne tonight, he better pour @matmohoric a pint of it. Mohoric put in a monster shift to build a lead and give Mader as much of a chance as possible. In the end Mader stayed clear by just 12 seconds. Proper cycling.#Giro2021

— Kenny Pryde (@Kenny_Pryde) May 13, 2021

Attila takes pink

The GC had a big test today and the ones who have came out smelling sweetest were Egan Bernal, Dan Martin, Remco Evenepoel and Giulio Ciccone.

However, the maglia rosa is on the shoulders of Attila Valter tonight. He’s been building towards this since he was a wee lad.

Giro leader Attila Valter in 2002. Seems like it's working out. pic.twitter.com/7XTDpYC5ZL

— Peter Flax (@Pflax1) May 13, 2021

🎥 We caught up with @GroupamaFDJ for a reaction to Attila Valter riding into the Maglia Rosa after a dramatic stage 6 @giroditalia 🇮🇹
—————————#Giro #Giro104 #Giro2021 pic.twitter.com/HIBzrlgKow

— Velon CC (@VelonCC) May 13, 2021

Something approaching a consensus at the start that De Marchi could keep the jersey today. Attila Valter one of those trying to take it off him: ‘It’s not just in a corner of my head – that’s what we want.’

— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) May 13, 2021

For the first time ever, there is a Hungarian leader of the Giro d'Italia, and boy is it deserved. Attila Valter showed his talent in the last few years, and now he's taken a huge step up. Great move to Groupama-FDJ too.

Well done @ValterAttila! ❤️🤍💚#Giro #Giro104

— Mikołaj Krok (@miki_krok) May 13, 2021