Featured Stories

Giro d’Italia Stage 6 Report, Results, Photos – Greipel Wins, Contador Crashes

release by Lotto Soudal and Tinkoff-Saxo

May 14, 2015 (Castiglione Della Pescaia, ITA) – German champion André Greipel finished off the teamwork of Lotto Soudal on Stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia. The stage took the riders from Montecatini Terme to Castiglione della Pescaia over a distance of 183 kilometres, an ideal stage for a bunch sprint.

Greipel wins  ©  Cor Vos

The break of the day consisted of five riders. The sprint teams kept the gap stable, around five minutes. Lotto Soudal was riding very attentively in the front part of the peloton. Sander Armée was the first of the team to lead the chase. With fourteen kilometres to go the escapees were reeled in. Because of the crosswind there was a chance of echelons, but eventually that didn’t happen.

When entering the last three kilometres Lotto Soudal took control, Lars Bak took the first position of the bunch. As planned Adam Hansen and Greg Henderson were the last men in front of André Greipel. Hendy did the perfect lead-out and Greipel finished it off. He beat Matteo Pelucchi and Sacha Modolo. This was the third stage win for the Gorilla in his third Giro. Greipel now leads the points classification.

Contador and Aru at the start  ©  Cor Vos

“I’m really happy and relieved after this victory. And of course I’m immensely proud of the team, the guys did such an amazing job today. I’m really thankful. We took our responsibility today. We wanted to show ourselves from start to finish, so the others would know we were there,” said Greipel.

“We didn’t make any mistakes. Sander Armée was the first rider who took control in the chase to keep the escapees close and to reel them in later. Grand Tour debutants Stig Broeckx and Louis Vervaeke also did their part of the job. With Lars Bak, Adam Hansen and Greg Henderson I had three riders in front of me when entering the last three kilometres. It all ran according to plan

Greipel celebrates  ©  Cor Vos

“The beginning of this Giro is not at all like the other Grand Tours that I have done before, it was really tough the third and fourth day. I now have the points jersey. We’ll see what happens the next stages and how long I’ll keep it. It’s an honour to ride in it tomorrow, but it all depends on how the race develops. But now we have a first victory, we’ll definitely aim for a second one,” he concluded.

Alberto Contador suffers dislocated shoulder in Giro crash

Tinkoff-Saxo’s team captain sustained a dislocated left shoulder, as he was dragged down by a big crash within the last 200 meters of stage 6. With a lot invested in this year’s Giro d’Italia, Contador remains optimistic and will further assess the injury before and on tomorrow’s stage.

At 7pm, after arriving to the team hotel, Tinkoff-Saxo’s captain Alberto Contador underwent medical examinations for 30 minutes in the mobile medical vehicle of the race organization, where both x-rays and an echography showed that Contador had dislocated his left shoulder in the crash.

Reemerging from the mobile unit, Alberto Contador explains that together with the team and race doctors he will reevaluate the effects before stage 7 but that he will take to the start.

Contador injured in crash  ©  Cor Vos

“I haven’t broken anything but I have suffered a dislocation of the left shoulder. The doctors have recommended that I immobilize my left arm during the evening and night, while I try to move it a bit with the help of my other arm to promote the movement of the shoulder. I will focus on this until tomorrow before the stage, where the doctors will come back to put on a layer of bandage for the race”, says Alberto Contador and adds:

“I will try to start tomorrow on stage 7, as I have worked very hard ahead of the Giro. I will try to continue until the very last moment. I’m optimistic about the start tomorrow, but we have to wait until right before the start to see what happens and how serious the effect of the crash is”, finishes Alberto Contador.

In the crash, Alberto Contador also wounded his right knee, which, however, doesn’t worry the team captain, who has is focus directed towards his injured shoulder.

As the big pile-up occurred within the last 200 meters, Alberto Contador retained his overall leadership at Giro d’Italia, still with 2 seconds to Fabio Aru.“I will try to start tomorrow on stage 7, as I have worked very hard ahead of the Giro. I will try to continue until the very last moment. I’m optimistic about the start tomorrow, but we have to wait until right before the start to see what happens and how serious the effect of the crash is”, finishes Alberto Contador.

In the crash, Alberto Contador also wounded his right knee, which, however, doesn’t worry the team captain, who has is focus directed towards his injured shoulder.

As the big pile-up occurred within the last 200 meters, Alberto Contador retained his overall leadership at Giro d’Italia, still with 2 seconds to Fabio Aru.





Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.


Pedal Magazine