Dan Martin has climbed inside the top-1o on general classification after a third place finish on stage 6 of the Giro D'Italia.
Stage victory in Ascoli went to Gino Mäder (Team Bahrain Victorious), with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) second and Martin (Team Israel Start Up Nation) third.
Starting the day 19th on general classification and 2'08" off the maglia rosa, Martin ended stage 6 in ninth, and just 47-seconds off the new overall leader Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ).
It was a day packed with incident as wind and rain lashed the peloton who had three categorised climbs with which to contend, including the finish to Ascoli.
💗 Giro d'Italia 2021 - Stage 6⃣
📌 Grotte di Frasassi - Ascoli Piceno (San Giacomo)
🥇 @maedergino 🇨🇭
🥈 @Eganbernal 🇨🇴
🥉 @DanMartin86 🇮🇪#Giro pic.twitter.com/JOKFmLcrGb— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 13, 2021
However, the most shocking incident came when Deceuninck Quick-Step's Pieter Serry was knocked from his bike having been struck from behind by a Team BikeExchange car.
Serry was able to get back on his bike and continue the stage.
Pieter Serry is hit by the BikeExchange team car on the final climb of stage 6 of the #Giro d'Italia! Luckily he's back up and running on the summit finish pic.twitter.com/JDyC7UG6cu
— Cyclingnews (@Cyclingnewsfeed) May 13, 2021
“With the cold, the rain, and the wind, this turned out to be a big test," Martin said after the stage.
"The last 65-70 km were really difficult. On the descent, I was so cold I could barely control my bike.
"It was a big help for me that the guys did such a good job for me, always keeping me in a good position. Just before we started the final climb, one of the BORA riders crashed right in front me and I couldn’t avoid going down as well.
"However, I got up quickly, and Paddy [Bevin] did a great job to bring me back to a good position near the front of the group.
“I didn’t really plan to do anything today, I just wanted to stay in the wheels and watch the other guys and that’s basically what I did. I felt pretty good though.
"Usually, these are not really conditions that suit me, so when I have good legs in these conditions, it also shows how good my shape is.
"This gives me a lot of comfort going forward; and now, we just want to continue this amazing start to the Giro we have had.”
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