MAYRHOFEN IM ZILLERTAL, Austria, May 14, 2009 (AFP) – Michele Scarponi of the Diquigiovanni team clinched a solo victory on the sixth stage of the Tour of Italy to claim his first career win in the race on Thursday.

Fellow Italian Danilo Di Luca, of LPR, retained the race leader’s pink jersey after a 248km ride in which a five-man breakaway provided much of the day’s drama on what was a transitional stage into nearby Austria.

Di Luca, the 2007 champion, retained his five-second lead over second-placed Swede Thomas Lovkvist with his Columbian teammate Michael Rogers still in third at 36sec.

A quartet of arguably more probable Giro winners – Levi Leipheimer, Denis Menchov, Ivan Basso and Carlos Sastre – sit in fourth to seventh places.

Scarponi was part of a early five-man escape group that formed around 50km into the stage but which was largely undone by the stage’s principle climb at Hochkrimml, 50km from the finish line.

Only Belarussian Vasik Kiryienka managed to stay with Scarponi on the ascent before dropping behind due to a puncture.

“In the group, I saw that Kiryienka was the most dangerous,” said Scarponi.

“When he had his puncture in the last 25 kilometres, I first thought that he’d gone the wrong way. I slowed down a little bit in order not to be on my own at the end. Then he got held up.”

Scarponi dug deep, went off on his own and managed to hold off a rapidly closing but tired peloton.

“Have I got a message to give?” the Italian joked afterwards. “Yes – not to start a breakaway with 200 kilometres to go. It’s a long way!”

Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen of Columbia attacked the pursuers in the final kilometre to finish second at around 30sec on the stage, picking up the bonus seconds that may otherwise have been snatched by rivals of his team.

It is Scarponi’s first Giro stage win and comes only months after he returned to the peloton following an 18-month ban for his implication in the Operation Puerto doping scandal.

Lance Armstrong finished 73rd after falling off the pace in the race’s closing stages and said he couldn’t believe how demanding the end of the race was.

“The last 30 kilometres were the craziest I’ve seen in my life,” said the Texan. “A long stretch, a quick descent – at 80km/h – and then a tight circuit.

“Tomorrow, we have the same kind of finish. It’s a cycling course, not a Moto GP. At one stage we even reached 110 (kilometres) an hour. It’s crazy!”

Danilo Di Luca Cruising To Keep His Pink Jersey On Giro Stage 6

The Beauty Of Italy And The Grace Of The Peloton
Photo’s by: CorVos Pro