Giro d'Italia - Stage 6

A taste of Strade Bianche in a dynamic stage through Tuscany

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Giro d'Italia - Stage 6

Dates 9 May
Race Length 177 kms
Start Viareggio
Finish Rapolano Terme
Race Category Elite Men

Published: 30 April 2024

Stage 6: Torre del Lago Puccini – Rapolano Terme (180km)

Stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia from Torre del Lago Puccini (Viareggio) to Rapolano Terme sees the peloton head onto the white dirt roads of Tuscany and pay homage to Strade Bianche.

There are just three sectors of in total, however, and the route bypasses a glut of potential sectors that could have caused major damage to the race and the outcome of the overall standings but that doesn’t mean that this will be an easy stage to control or win with 11.6km of dirt roads in total.

Starting in Viareggio, the first 70km of the stage are flat and almost uneventful with the fourth category climb to Volterra breaking up proceedings. The next phase of the stage is lumpy at best before the more serious stuff comes with back-to-back gravel sectors at Vidritta and Bagnaia. They combine to create 9.2km of dirt roads and are only punctuated by a short section of tarmac that lasts less than a kilometre. They’re not the most difficult sectors but the fight for positioning heading into both stretches will be intense and almost as important as the sectors themselves. The GC teams will be on red alert.

The second sector at Bagnaia ends with the climb to Grotti and could cause chaos if the right teams hit the front and look to split the peloton but it’s unlikely we’ll see a solo escape like we saw at in Strade Bianche with Tadej Pogačar earlier this year. Stage racing requires a state of conservatism that can be discarded in one-day affairs and this is still very early in the Grand Tour.

The final of the three sectors at Pievina is short but comes with another rise that lasts about 900m before a potentially tricky final 15km to the finish. It’s not an easy run-in by any means with plenty of unclassified rises and short descents before the finish.

This stage could have been a lot harder had the organisers included more gravel sectors but it’s still enough to test the peloton and cause splits.