Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) won a thrilling sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday that saw Simon Yates taking the maglia rosa.
Chaves finished just ahead of teammate Simon Yates, whose late surge to join the 28-year-old Colombian earned him the overall leader’s pink jersey.
Thibaut Pinot finished third, some 30 seconds behind the leading pair, after a 164km ride between Caltanissetta and Etna, with Chris Froome finishing seconds behind the Frenchman.
There was suspense all the way as both Mitchelton riders approached the finish line, but in the end Yates sat up to allow Chaves to savour the stage victory.
“Chaves had been out on the road all day, so he deserved the stage win,” said Yates
Chaves was part of a 28-rider escape group, which fell apart at the foot of Sicily’s Mount Etna, the highest volcano in Europe.
After a series of attacks and counter-attacks on the way up to Etna, the Colombian climbing specialist pulled away from his rivals with 5.5 km to race.
With Chaves confidently ahead on his own, Yates bided his time amid a series of further skirmishes before pulling away in commanding fashion to join the Colombian in the final kilometre.
“I felt really good, I looked across the road and everyone was looking at each other. I took a chance,” added Yates. “The start was crazy. I didn’t really have to do anything, I could sit in the wheels and save energy.”
Froome finished in tenth place in the first chasing group alongside defending champion Tom Dumoulin, who is now second overall at 16sec behind Yates.
From Friday, after three days in Sicily, the Giro continues on Italian mainland with the 159km seventh stage between Pizzo and Praia a Mare in Calabria.
Giro d’Italia 2018 – stage 6 results (Caltanissetta – Etna):
| 1 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | 4:16:11 |
| 2 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 3 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +26” |
| 4 | George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 5 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 6 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | ,, |
| 7 | Richard Carapaz (Movistar) | ,, |
| 8 | Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 9 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 10 | Chris Froome (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 11 | Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) | +40” |
| 12 | Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data) | +43” |
| 13 | Pello Bilbao (Astana) | +49” |
| 14 | Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb) | +53” |
| 15 | Sergio Henao (Team Sky) | +55” |
| 16 | Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac) | +57” |
| 17 | Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 18 | Kenny Elissonde (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 19 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | ,, |
| 20 | Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF) | ,, |
General classification after stage 6:
| 1 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | 22:46:03 |
| 2 | Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) | +16” |
| 3 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | +26” |
| 4 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) | +43” |
| 5 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +45” |
| 6 | Rohan Dennis (BMC) | +53” |
| 7 | Pello Bilbao (Astana) | +01’03” |
| 8 | Chris Froome (Team Sky) | +01’10” |
| 9 | George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) | +01’11” |
| 10 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | +01’12” |
| 11 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | +01’21” |
| 12 | Richard Carapaz (Movistar) | +01’23” |
| 13 | Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data) | +01’39” |
| 14 | Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac) | ,, |
| 15 | Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb) | +01’42” |
| 16 | Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe) | +01’46” |
| 17 | Sergio Henao (Team Sky) | +01’47” |
| 18 | Tanel Kangert (Astana) | +02’01” |
| 19 | Maximilian Schachmann (Quick-Step Floors) | +02’02” |
| 20 | José Gonçalves (Katusha-Alpecin) | +02’06” |
