Marek Rutkiewicz was involved in the main breakaway on stage 6 of Giro d’Italia which ended in a chaotic sprint. Grega Bole finished 15th.

“Every rider from our team, except Grega Bole, Bartłomiej Matysiak and Sylwester Szmyd, were supposed to attack from the very start. That was the plan. The leading group emerged quite early, after a few minutes and a few jumps from the bunch. The beginning of the stage is always very lively and you never know who will make the escape. This time it happened to be me,” Marek Rutkiewicz said afterwards.

“Everything was going well until 45km to go. The final part was completely flat, which didn’t really suit my style of racing. In addition to that, strong head wind was not in our favor. We were caught over a dozen kilometers before the finish, but the most important thing is to be active and to look for your chances,” he added.

The CCC Sprandi Polkowice rider jumped away from the peloton a few minutes after the start of 183-kiometer stage. He broke clear with Eduard Grosu (Nippo-Vini Fantini). When their advantage reached 1:40, Cannondale-Garmin picked up the pace in the bunch to send one of its riders across to the escape. They managed to complete their plan and Alan Marangoni joined the leaders. Marco Bandiera (Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec) and Grosu’s teammate, Alessando Malaguti, also bridged the gap.

The 5-man group established a 5-minute lead and it levelled out for some time. The sprinters’ teams were in control throughout the entire stage though and later on were reducing the gap steadily. Eventually Rutkiewicz’s group was reeled in with 13km to go.

The following kilometers were not easy for many riders, since strong crosswinds stretched out the bunch significantly. In the end, the group came back together and it was time for the sprinters to shine. Grega Bole and Jarosław Marycz, who was helping the Slovenian to position himself, were riding at the head of the peloton.

When the sprint entered the decisive phase, Daniele Colli (Nippo-Vini Fantini) crashed badly and took down a few other riders. One of them was Bartłomiej Matysiak and the GC leader Alberto Contador. The CCC Sprandi Polkowice rider completed the race by walking over the line and thankfully, aside from bruises, he didn’t suffer serious injuries. Nikolay Mihaylov was also involved in the incident, but he didn’t go down. He stopped to avoid crashing.

Everything happened close to Bole, but he managed to pass the falling riders. He lost his rhythm and was out of the contention for the top 10. Bole took 15th place, while Marycz was behind him in 16th. Despite riding in the break all day, Rutkiewicz was able to stay in the peloton and finished with the same time as stage winner Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal).