COLOMBIAN MIGUEL RUBIANO Chávez claimed an impressive win in stage six of the Giro d’Italia on Friday.
Rubiano, a member of Antonio Castano’s Androni-Giocaattoli outfit, secured a berth within an early breakaway and rode at the head of the field for several hours before launching an audacious solo effort in the closing stages of the 207km route from Urbino to Porto Sant’Elpidio.
Italian pair Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD) and Cesare Benedetti (Team NetApp), Poland’s Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) and Kazakhstan’s Alexsandr Dyachenko (Astana Pro Team) finished 70 seconds adrift of the 27-year-old.
Malori may have lacked the resilience to contest the stage victory, but his dogged work at the head of the chasing pack saw him close the day with a generous lead at the summit of the general classification. He leads Golas, one of his allies in the early breakaway, by 15 seconds.
Rubiano, the afternoon’s star performer, lies in fourth place overall with sole possession of the mountains classification.
This afternoon will see the peloton negotiate a punishing 202km route from Recanati to Rocca di Cambio.
