2012 Tirreno-Adriatico, Stage 6 Results

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha Team) won the 6th stage of Tirreno–Adriatico, Offida – Offida, 181 km. Finishing 2nd and 3rd were Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas Cannondale) and Danilo Di Luca (Acqua & Sapone).

Christopher Horner (RadioShack Nissan Trek) retains the Maglia Azzurra.

Nibali's tremendous effort in the last 200 meters gained him 2nd and a very important 6 seconds of bonus time; he'll be starting tomorrow's TT stage with a 6 second disadvantage to race leader Chris Horner rather than 12 seconds "These 6 seconds change everything," said Nibali. Horner also has to worry about Kreuziger who is 5 seconds behind and who he sees as his most dangerous rival tomorrow.

Peter Sagan, Nibali's teammate, closed down all the attacks in the final Kms, especially that of Danilo di Luca. Sagan's performance was so exceptional that Horner said, "Should Nibali win tomorrow he should buy Sagan a Mercedes as a gift."

Today's last km:


Tomorrow's 9.3 km time trial along the shore of the Adriatic in San Benedetto del Tronto will decide the race. The course is flat and fast:


Commenting after the race Joaquin Rodriguez said, "This type of attack only works once in awhile. If the finish line were another 200 meters I do not know if I could have won. Regarding Milan-Sanremo I could see that Oscar Freire was very strong today but he did not want to risk too much. Then there is Sagan, he has impressed everyone after proving that he is also very strong going uphill. We do not know how Sagan can sprint after 300 kilometers of racing, we know that Freire can do it do very well. It will be a beautiful Milan-Sanremo." Milan-Sanremo is March 17th.

Top three results:
Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha Team) in 4h 38’ 27”
Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas Cannondale) s.t.
Danilo Di Luca (Acqua & Sapone) s.t.

Top 10 GC:
Result
1 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 29:27:06
2 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:00:05
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:06
4 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:45
5 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:00:47
6 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:00:48
7 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 0:00:50
8 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:15
9 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Acqua & Sapone 0:01:21
10 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Colnago - CSF Inox 0:01:22

Maglia Azzurra – Classifica generale (GC): Christopher Horner (RadioShack Nissan Trek)
Maglia Bianca – Classifica giovani (Younbg Rider): Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil DCM Pro C. Team)
Maglia Rossa – Classifica a punti (Points): Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas Cannondale)
Maglia Verde – Classifica GPM (KOM): Stefano Pirazzi (Colnago – CSF Inox)


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