Giro peloton is preparing for a beautiful hill ride on Tuscan gravel roads

Follow the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia via this live blog

• Start at 12:45 PM, finish between 5:00 PM and 5:30 PM
• A hilly ride of 180 kilometers with three gravel lanes
• Tadej Pogacar wears the pink leader’s jersey and is the favorite

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After three flat stages for the sprinters, today’s eyes are again focused on the man in the pink leader’s jersey: Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian is the top favorite today, as he will be for the entire Giro for tough stages.

He also performs well on the Tuscan clay. We saw that earlier this season during Strade Bianche, which he won after a pre-announced monster solo of 81 kilometers.

Watch the images of that heroic solo here:

Pogacar’s heroic victory in Strade Bianche: announced solo of 81 kilometers succeeds

Florian Lipowitz will also not start again. The young German climber from Bora-hansgrohe is ill. That is a big loss for the German team, because earlier this Giro Lipowitz impressed with a fifth place in the first mountain stage to Oropa. In the Tour de Romandie he finished third in the final classification.

An unpleasant morning for Israel – Premier Tech: the team starts today with three riders less. Michael Woods, Nadav Raisberg and Riley Pickrell can no longer start after their falls yesterday.

Woods has symptoms of a mild concussion and Raisberg has broken a bone in his hand. Pickrell initially seemed to be able to start, but because he may also be suffering from a concussion, the team decided to send him home as well.

The riders and organization of the Giro today reflect on the death of Wouter Weylandt. It is exactly thirteen years ago that the Belgian rider died after a fall in the Tour of Italy.

Earlier this Giro, Tim Merlier already paid tribute to his compatriot. Merlier, who was a big fan of Weylandt in his youth, made a W sign with his hands after his sprint victory in the third stage.

A kind of Strade Bianche light. This is how the sixth stage of this Giro can best be described. Today the riders are presented with some of those beautiful Tuscan gravel roads.

The pictures of the riders on the white roads will be nice, but the question remains whether the strips will determine the race today. In total, the riders ride three sections of almost 12 kilometers on gravel: that’s not too bad.

The first 70 kilometers are flat, but then the climbing begins. There are two categorized climbs included in the course, but the last 110 kilometers are constantly up and down. The riders will cover a total of 1,900 meters of altitude.

At 50 kilometers from the finish in Rapolano Terme, the riders will encounter the first gravel strip and the second will follow shortly after. The last gravel strip is 17 kilometers from the finish. The final also includes a steep wall of 700 meters at an average of 8.4%. A nice place for favorite Tadej Pogacar to jump away?

Welcome to the live blog about the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia. The riders will start at 12.45 in Viareggio on the Tuscan coast for what is expected to be a beautiful hill ride with a few Tuscan gravel strips.

The finish is expected after 180 kilometers around 5.15 pm. Andiamo!