Mads Pedersen takes Giro d’Italia stage six as breakaway duo fall metres short

Mads Pedersen won stage six of the Giro d’Italia to complete a grand slam of career sprint wins, but only after a brave two-man breakaway was caught with only 300m to go until the finish line.

Simon Clarke and Alessandro De Marchi were part of an early five-man break but, as their supporting cast dwindled, both worked together to stay clear. It appeared the race for a glorious stage win was on as they entered the final kilometre, with Clarke the favourite – but neither man found the legs for a final push and the peloton swept past them with the finish line in sight.

It was Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) who crossed the line first in a chaotic sprint, adding a Giro stage win to Tour de France and Vuelta stage victories and completing his “Pederslam”. The Danish rider has also won a world road race title, and joins Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan in an exclusive club of active riders with all four wins.

“I’m pretty happy, it’s what we came for,” said Pedersen. “It’s nice to have a victory now, it was a tough day for the team and it’s nice to pay them back with a victory. It was pretty close, it was not easy to catch them for a long time. They had a lead of two minutes and we had to use all the guys available, it wasn’t easy. With 300 metres to go we caught them. I feel really sorry for those guys.”

More details to follow …