OFFICIAL Stage 6 Results
Laurens De Jong
Hello, Giro d’Italia Women Gamers!
STAGE Grade: B+
I rate today’s stage a B+. If not for the completely unexpected crosswind echelons, this would have been a C-rated stage. But they were there, the echelons, and it made for a lively race. It wasn’t a five-star sprint. It was a five-star lead-out but a sprint is more than just a lead-out.
Route: 1/5 GC: 1/5 Tactics: 4/5 Sprint: 4/5 Surprises: 5/5
I had, in fact, carefully studied the weather. No chance of echelons, I concluded. The wind’s not strong enough.
Well, just a little wind can split the peloton. UNO-X Mobility bosses had seen what I had not seen and put together a massive attack. An innocent little climb followed by an innocent little downhill through a village, with 62 kilometers to go, and all of a sudden UNO-X started riding like lunatics. I didn’t understand why — surely this wasn’t enough of a climb to drop anyone.
I hadn’t even noticed the wind, but the TV producers did. They helpfully put a graphic on the screen that showed the wind coming from the left. Once out of town, the splits created by the UNO-X attack became a problem.
Three splits in the peloton. Anna van der Breggen in the first group, Demi Vollering in the third, Marlen Reusser in the third. What followed was twenty minutes of mad racing. If you’ve never been in this situation: when these splits happen, every rider is sprinting at their maximum. For as long as it takes. In the front group, even van der Breggen was pulling, trying to put time on Vollering. If Vollering even lets up a little, it could all of a sudden be five, ten minutes she loses at the line.
Vollering herself then, also sprinting at full force. Taking turns at the front. True desperation. And behind her, Reusser doing the same.
Vollering and FDJ United – SUEZ probably had the most to lose. Vollering had just two domestiques with her and pretty soon just one. Vollering was gesturing the riders behind her to help when only Vittoria Guazzini was in the front. But of course nobody was going to help Vollering back to the leaders. If there’s ever a chance to blackmail Vollering, this is it. Vollering might have cracked, but just in time Human Powered Health and Evy Kuijpers took a few turns at the front. That gave Guazzini a chance to catch her breath and she closed the gap. Crisis averted.
Question: why did Kuijpers take that turn? I have no idea: Charlotte Kool was in the lead group, safe and sound. You don’t chase your team mates. Very strange, but fortunate for Vollering.
Behind her, Reusser had almost her entire Movistar team and they time-trialed their way back to the first split. Not as spectacular as Vollering’s teetering on the brink of disaster, but a good demonstration of cycling as a team sport.
One little moment in the village of Volta Mantovana. Nobody was expecting this. The TV was showing aerial shots of the village when it the race went off. Pro cycling, you just have to be on top of your game the entire time.
I felt bad for the breakaway. There lead was cut short in no time and they must have had no idea how that happened.
Oh, and then Elisa Balsamo won the sprint. As expected. But with a lead-out like Lucinda Brand’s, how can you not win it. Balsamo herself said that as well. At the flamme rouge, Brand, Balsamo, and Maggie Coles-Lister had actually opened up a gap. Brand’s speed was such that just a moment’s inattention caused a split.
The peloton closed that gap but at a cost. Everyone else had had to work, Balsamo was still fresh. So was Coles-Lister, of course. And to her credit, she gave it a go. Might as well. With just under 300 meters to go, she launched. Who dares wins. Or finishes seconds, in this case. Balsamo rode way from Coles-Lister, took the win that Brand had prepared, and Coles-Lister’s second place is one of her best finishes ever.
Earlier in the race, just as the TV coverage had started, there was a nice moment. Lorena Wiebes was watching the race come by, from the side of the road. She had climbed on top of a wall, she was wearing her Dutch national champion’s outfit. She’s not shy. After her disqualification, she had returned home, packed up her RV and joined Floortje Mackaij and her family on vacation in Italy. Mackaij was also there in her Movistar kit, as was her entire family. Movistar and Team SD Worx – Protime riders waved at the two as they flashed by. A nice moment. The only nice moment in the after math of Wiebes’ disqualification — SD Worx is preparing a lawsuit against UCI. SD Worx believes Wiebes would have won all these stages and is seeking monetary damages. This is going to drag on for a long time. All for a slice of cheese — the weight Wiebes’ bike was below the minimum.
Beatrice Cal is seventeen times the Italian champion in mountain bike and cyclocross tandem competition. She is the non-sighted stoker and in 2024 her captain was Giorgia Serena. The Team Mendelspeck E-Work rider who went on the attack in today’s stage. Twenty kilometers from the finish, no response from the peloton. They didn’t think this was a serious challenge and they weren’t wrong. Serena ran out of gas about ten kilometers from the line and was gobbled up quickly thereafter.
Cycling is a team sport. Eva van Agt was the model team player today.
During the split, van Agt and Vittoria Guazzini had been shadowing Vollering. Their job on the team. Van Agt sprinted as hard as she could for as long as she could, and then bailed. She dropped back to the group Reusser, which brought her back to the peloton in due time.
Immediately van Agt and Guazzini were back in front of the peloton. Organizing the train for Vollering to take bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint. She led the team effort, Guazzini took over, but cycling is a team sport for everyone. Team SD Worx – Protime had the better team players today. Barbara Guarischi took Guazzini’s wheel and would not let go. This was a very good move, I cannot overstate that. To muscle Vollering out of the way to ensure she doesn’t get the bonus seconds — that is team play.
It put Vollering full in the wind, despite Guazzini’s lead-out. Guazzini of course had no idea she wasn’t pulling Vollering. When Guazzini faded, Vollering tried to launch, but her tired legs were no match for Femke Gerritse, another SD Worx rider. Even Nienke Veenhoven passed Vollering — no bonus points for her, and a tactical victory for SD Worx.
In the home stretch, van Agt again was busy in the front of the peloton. Keeping Vollering safe until the final three kilometers. Her job done, she finished 119th in the stage today. She was 49 seconds behind the leaders, but given the same time. The three kilometer rule.
Watch the final kilometers HERE.
Watch the TNT Sports highlights HERE.
Read the TNT Sports report HERE.
In previous sprint stages, Team Charles and Team Ansel tied for points. Now that Team Charles has a four-point edge in classifications, they take the grand slam and the day victory. Both teams had seven riders in the Top-25. Team Amalia keep wondering why they haven’t picked Balsamo and give up another 30 points today. There was of course no change in the standings today.
Friday’s stage … should? Maybe? Be another Elisa Balsamo kind of day. I think so. There is a category 3 climb, but we saw Balsamo survive worse earlier this week. And there’s 27 kilometers to go after that climb. And there’s an intermediate sprint just before the climb.
All of which are data points to conclude that the sprinter teams will catch whatever breakaway has happened just before the intermediate sprint, try to manage the climb, and then Balsamo will win her fifth and final stage of the 2026 Giro d’Italia Women.
Standings after stage 6:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Charles* |
1201 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Ansel* |
1183 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
Team Amalia* |
1135 |
3 |
0 |
Standings after stage 6 (including adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Charlotte |
1282 |
2 |
1 |
|
2 |
Team Kent |
1263 |
1 |
-1 |
|
3 |
Team Charles* |
1201 |
3 |
0 |
|
4 |
Team Ansel* |
1183 |
4 |
0 |
|
5 |
Team Laurens |
1158 |
5 |
0 |
|
6 |
Team Amalia* |
1135 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Kate |
1047 |
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
Team Ellie |
1021 |
9 |
1 |
|
9 |
Team Corsa |
989 |
8 |
-1 |
|
10 |
Team Kari |
955 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Julie |
918 |
11 |
0 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 6:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
PINK JERSEY |
PURPLE JERSEY |
BLUE JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
81 |
45 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
63 |
144 |
991 |
1135 |
|
Team Ansel* |
116 |
37 |
14 |
6 |
3 |
60 |
176 |
1007 |
1183 |
|
Team Charles* |
116 |
43 |
14 |
6 |
3 |
66 |
182 |
1019 |
1201 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 6 (including adults):
|
Team Amalia* |
81 |
45 |
9 |
9 |
0 |
63 |
144 |
991 |
1135 |
|
Team Ansel* |
116 |
37 |
14 |
6 |
3 |
60 |
176 |
1007 |
1183 |
|
Team Charles* |
116 |
43 |
14 |
6 |
3 |
66 |
182 |
1019 |
1201 |
|
Team Charlotte |
119 |
53 |
11 |
6 |
8 |
78 |
197 |
1085 |
1282 |
|
Team Corsa |
71 |
43 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
56 |
127 |
862 |
989 |
|
Team Ellie |
115 |
36 |
8 |
6 |
8 |
58 |
173 |
848 |
1021 |
|
Team Julie |
67 |
38 |
9 |
6 |
3 |
56 |
123 |
795 |
918 |
|
Team Kari |
89 |
34 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
47 |
136 |
819 |
955 |
|
Team Kate |
89 |
42 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
55 |
144 |
903 |
1047 |
|
Team Kent |
102 |
45 |
14 |
6 |
3 |
68 |
170 |
1093 |
1263 |
|
Team Laurens |
102 |
37 |
14 |
6 |
3 |
60 |
162 |
996 |
1158 |
-Laurens.