Arnaud Demare claimed his second stage in the Giro d’Italia by winning the sixth in another mass sprint on Thursday.
For his 12th victory this season, Demare started his sprint before anyone else on the slightly uphill finishing straight and won easily ahead of Michael Matthews and Fabio Felline.
Joao Almeida held onto the pink jersey despite a mid-stage scare when he was crashed into by another rider.
Almeida stopped on the side of the road to fix the radio under his jersey with 37 kilometers to go when he was hit. Fernando Gaviria went down in the same incident, but both riders quickly got going again.
The Deceuninck-Quick Step rider remained 43 seconds of Pello Bilbao in the general classification.
Stage 7 on Friday, a mostly flat 143-kilometer leg from Matera to Brindisi, also sets up well for sprinters.
