FIUGGI, Italy, May 12, 2011 – Spain’s Francisco Ventoso won the sixth
stage of the Giro d’Italia here on Thursday, while Dutch rider Pieter Weening
of Rabobank held on to the overall leader’s pink jersey.

Ventoso won a sprint finish on a slight hill ahead of Italy’s Alessandro
Petacchi, winner of Sunday’s second stage at Parma, after the 216km hilly run
around the Latium region of Rome.

It was the first Giro stage win for the 29-year-old Ventoso, who won the
Paris-Brussels race last year, but his fifth success of the season.

Italy’s Roberto Ferrari finished third ahead of compatriot Danilo Di Luca,
who had launched an attack on the final 1km climb before being caught.

Britain’s Mark Cavendish could not participate in the final sprint as he
was already trailing on the climb towards Fiuggi.

The stage was controlled early by a breakaway group of five riders — Jussi
Veikkanen, Kristof Vandewalle, Frederik Veuchelen, Sacha Modolo and Yaroslav
Popovych — who built up a lead of nearly six minutes at the half-way point.

Yaroslav Popovych Controling The Break

After a big effort from Ukraine’s Popovych, it was Belgian Vandewalle who
prolonged the effort until 1500 meters from the line.

Friday’s seventh stage sees the riders head for the hills with a 110km run
from Maddaloni to Montevergine di Mercogliano, in which the final 17.1km is at
a five percent gradient.

Stage
1. Francisco Ventoso (ESP/MOV) les 216 km en 5h15:39.
(moyenne: 41,058 km/h)
2. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA/LAM) à 0:00.
3. Roberto Ferrari (ITA/AND) 0:00.
4. Danilo Di Luca (ITA/KAT) 0:00.
5. Davide Appollonio (ITA/SKY) 0:00.
6. Michele Scarponi (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
7. Christophe Le Mével (FRA/GRM) 0:00.
8. Gerald Ciolek (GER/QST) 0:00.
9. Paolo Tiralongo (ITA/AST) 0:00.
10. Ruggero Marzoli (ITA/ASA) 0:00.
11. Stefano Garzelli (ITA/ASA) 0:00.
12. Vasili Kiryienka (BLR/MOV) 0:00.
13. Angel Vicioso (ESP/AND) 0:00.
14. Pablo Lastras (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
15. Matteo Montaguti (ITA/ALM) 0:00.
16. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
17. Denis Menchov (RUS/GEO) 0:00.
18. David Arroyo (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
19. Gianluca Brambilla (ITA/COG) 0:00.
20. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/HTC) 0:00.
…
27. Pieter Weening (NED/RAB) 0:00.
28. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/AST) 0:00.
32. Alberto Contador (ESP/SAX) 0:00.
38. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
39. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 0:00.
43. Tiago Machado (POR/RSH) 0:00.
49. Jérôme Pineau (FRA/QST) 0:00.
52. Igor Anton (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
64. Carlos Sastre (ESP/GEO) 0:00.
79. John Gadret (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
91. Richie Porte (AUS/SAX) 0:29.
96. Michael Barry (CAN/SKY) 0:43.
140. Pierre Cazaux (FRA/EUS) 7:14.
158. Julien Bérard (FRA/ALM) 7:58.
159. Cyril Dessel (FRA/ALM) 7:58.
160. Mickaël Cherel (FRA/ALM) 7:58.
171. Mark Cavendish (IDM/HTC) 10:16.
194. Sacha Modolo (ITA/COG) 17:29.

Overall
1. Pieter Weening (NED/RAB) 20h15:12.
2. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/HTC) à 0:02.
3. Marco Pinotti (ITA/HTC) 0:02.
4. Christophe Le Mével (FRA/GRM) 0:05.
5. Pablo Lastras (ESP/MOV) 0:22.
6. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 0:24.
7. Michele Scarponi (ITA/LAM) 0:26.
8. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/RAB) 0:28.
9. Alberto Contador (ESP/SAX) 0:30.
10. José Serpa Perez (COL/AND) 0:33.
11. Thomas Lövkvist (SWE/SKY) 0:39.
12. David Arroyo (ESP/MOV) 0:40.
13. Fabio Duarte (COL/GEO) 0:43.
14. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 0:44.
15. Matteo Carrara (ITA/VAC) 0:50.
16. Peter Kennaugh (IDM/SKY) 0:50.
17. Vasili Kiryienka (BLR/MOV) 0:51.
18. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/AST) 0:52.
19. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO/AST) 0:52.
20. Denis Menchov (RUS/GEO) 0:55.
…
22. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 0:58.
26. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 1:06.
31. Igor Anton (ESP/EUS) 1:15.
38. John Gadret (FRA/ALM) 1:41.
44. Carlos Sastre (ESP/GEO) 2:08.
48. Tiago Machado (POR/RSH) 3:07.
56. Francisco Ventoso (ESP/MOV) 5:09.
65. Danilo Di Luca (ITA/KAT) 7:56.
66. Michael Barry (CAN/SKY) 7:58.
76. Jérôme Pineau (FRA/QST) 11:07.
120. Richie Porte (AUS/SAX) 19:47.
133. Julien Bérard (FRA/ALM) 22:20.
139. Pierre Cazaux (FRA/EUS) 24:22.
148. Cyril Dessel (FRA/ALM) 27:30.
159. Mickaël Cherel (FRA/ALM) 29:58.
172. Mark Cavendish (IDM/HTC) 35:09.
194. Graeme Brown (AUS/RAB) 52:55.

Article:AFP
Photo: Corvos