As expected the final climbs proved to be a little bit too much for the pure sprinters in yesterday's tough finale but the fastest men will have any opportunity to get their revenge in today's sixth stage. A 169km completely flat run mostly along the Adriatic coast is the perfect stomping ground for the bunch sprint specialists and with a 3,5km straight finishing straight this is certainly one for the fastest of the sprinters. Starting at 14.15 you can follow the race on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

Having endured a number of tough finishes, the pure sprinters will get the first opportunity to express their talents since the opening day in Naples when the peloton continues its run north along the Adriatic coast. Once again the peloton heads inland with 93,1km to go but this time there are no significant climbs on the route and instead the peloton returns to the coast to finish the stage with two laps of a flat 16,3km circuit around the city in Margherita di Savoia. The final 3,5km are almost completely straight with just two very slight curves at about 2km from the line and so the finish is perfectly suited to the sprinters with the highest top speed. Keeping their limited opportunities in mind there is no doubt that the sprinters' teams will bring everything back together for a big bunch kick late in the afternoon.

Mark Cavendish fought hard to stay in contact on the penultimate climbs in yesterday's stage and there is no doubt that he is eager for revenge. There has been much discussion concerning his team's ability to deliver him perfectly to the line but Gert Steegmans seemed to have stepped up his game on the first stage in Naples until a mechanical left the Manxman to fight for himself. He has not a lead-out like the Argos-Shimano and Orica-GreenEdge at his disposal but he has proved numerous times that he is strong enough to handle the stage finishes alone. If Steegmans manages to bring him into a reasonable position on the final finishing straight he will be almost impossible to beat in a finish like this.

There is no doubt that the last kilometers will be one big battle between the mighty Argos-Shimano and Orica-GreenEdge trains which try to take control and give their sprinters Degenkolb and Goss the optimal position for the final kick. The Australians won the battle in stage 1 and with a number of Argos' best lead-out riders not in the Giro line-up the outcome could very well be the same today.

The big problem for the two teams is that their sprinters seem to lack the punch to actually win the stage. Degenkolb is amazingly strong on the climbs right now as he proved yesterday but he has been sprinting terribly all season. He did a good sprint at the end of the Rund um den Finanzplatz just prior to the Giro and won the sprint for 11th in the crash-marred first stage so signs are that he may be doing a little better at the moment. Goss won a stage in the Tirreno-Adriatico but since then he has lacked his usual strong kick and he has disappointed immensely in the last two sprints he has contested in Romandy and the first stage of the Italian grand tour. Furthermore, he hit the deck yesterday and he could feel some effects from that crash today.

The most likely challengers to Cavendish should once again be Elia Viviani and Nacer Bouhanni. The duo completed the podium in stage 1 and both have the top speed to be right at the pointy end of the stage today. Viviani has a strong team almost completely devoted to his sprint ambitions and Tiziano Dall'Antonia and Fabio Sabatini delivered him perfectly in stage 1. Bouhanni has not the same kind of strong support even though the likes of Murilo Fischer, Laurent Pichon, Dominique Rollin and Anthony Roux are all strong lead-out riders but he is very strong in the battle for positions and not afraid to use unconventional methods as his head butt in stage one showed.

Roberto Ferrari is mostly left to fight for himself but he is another sprinter very capable of taking care of himself while Giacomo Nizzolo keeps improving as a sprinter. And then it could be a mistake to underestimate Francesco Chicchi in a sprint like this one. He is maybe the only sprinter with the top speed to match Cavendish and the long finishing straight suits him perfectly. He usually ends up being boxed in towards the end of the stage as his ability to stay in position is not the best but if he gets a clear run to the line he could be a very dangerous dark horse.

Starting at 14.15 you can follow the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

CyclingQuotes' stage winner picks: Mark Cavendish, Elia Viviani, Nacer Bouhanni

Outsiders: Matthew Goss, John Degenkolb, Francesco Chicchi