Editor's Note: This post was originally written on May 12 after Stage 6 but was unable to be posted until May 13 because of blogger's outage.
The Giro d'Italia is one of three Grand Tours on the cycling calendar. It is airing daily on Universal Sports through May 29 and during the race daily recaps can be found here on this blog.
Today's Stage: A rolling medium-mountain stage of 216 km with a gradual uphill finish. The final chance for the sprinters (though only the ones who can actually climb a little) or a possible breakaway stage.
Who won today's stage? Francisco Ventoso of Team Movistar surprisingly beat a spent Alessandro Petacchi in the sprint. Petacchi looked as though he had it before running out of gas in the final 10 meters.
What matters in the GC race? Nothing today matters there. Peter Weening still leads and nobody of consequence gained or lost any time.
Biggest surprise of the day: We had a sprint finish. This looked like a good day for a breakaway, but Weening's Rabobank team decided to defend the leader's pink jersey meaning no breakaway riders were given a long enough leash to stay away on today's stage.
Biggest disappointment of the day: Petacchi running out of gas at the end. He really only needed one or two more turns of the pedal to win the sprint and he just couldn't do it. Surprising considering his climbing skills have improved by recently.
Other items of note: The highly anticipated Sunday stage climbing Mount Etna may have to be altered after the volcano erupted last night. As of now, the stage is in no jeopardy, but there is the possibility of further eruptions forcing a change.
What is coming tomorrow? The first real mountain test, though its a fairly easy one. The Giro cannot be won tomorrow with a summit finish on a Category 2 climb and a short stage of just 110 km, but those not in good form could be beaten early and reduced to stage hunters.
Any GC changes tomorrow? Weening is not a good climber. He likely won't be able to hold the jersey after the stage. Day one leader Marco Pinotti, an average climber who will fall off in the higher mountains but can endure a day like tomorrow, could take the jersey by staying in the lead group. If not him, the favorites will likely move up to the top of the standings led by Vincenzo Nibali, Michele Scarponi and Alberto Contador.
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