Cavendish wins stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico

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Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quick Step) finished off a consummate lead-out display from his team to win stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico, a 189-kilometre test from Bucchianico to Porto Sant'Elpidio.

The British sprinter crossed the line virtually uncontested after a crash took out several of his main rivals inside the final two kilometres as Alessandro Petacchi hung on for a distant second with Peter Sagan (Cannondale) in third.

Race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) came through the stage unscathed with his healthy 2:08 lead over Nairo Quintana (Movistar) intact.

The stage win marked Cavendish's second race win of the season and provides a welcome boost ahead of Milan-San Remo.

In truth, Omega Pharma Quick Step timed their move for the line to perfection, hitting the front inside the final kilometres after Cannondale had split the race early on. Sagan's men had put the field under pressure after Marcel Kittel (Giant Shimano) showed signs of weakness on the first climb of the day.

The move led to a frantic pace as the race entered the final 50 kilometres as the sprinters jostled for safety and a chance to take a win with tomorrow’s time trial left to come.

Up ahead and unaware of Kittel's problems were a four-man group of Peter Kennaugh (Sky), Steve Morabito (BMC), Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) and Cesare Benedetti (NetApp-Endura). Having broken clear on the first climb of the day they quickly established a lead of over a minute. Vincent Jerome (Europcar) had briefly made it into the move but he was dispatched with on the climb itself but despite the loss the four leaders had 5:30 over the bunch after 45 kilometres.

The cracks in Kittel's armour were apart and Cannondale were keen to exploit the German's weak points. They increased the pace on the Sant'Elpidio climb, as the four leaders held a gap of 1:36 over the peloton.

Kittel quickly found himself a minute down but help was soon at hand with his entire team deployed to his aid as he looked to regain contact for a sprint that would have truly suited him.

Cannondale were intent on distancing the German and they were encouraged when Andre Greipel offered them up several of his workers in assistance. With Sam Bennett in his group, Kittel found some help via NetApp, and the lead gently began to shrink inside the final 20 kilometres.

Bauer, aware that the break was starting to slow, jumped clear and although Kennaugh and Morabito were able to latch on, Benedetti was quickly dropped.

Kennaugh slipped back soon after as the Lotto and Cannondale field had the break in its sights and as they crossed the finish for the penultimate lap Kittel's group is at 33 seconds.

It was as close as the German would come, however, with Omega Pharma Quick Step soon starting to dictate the pace as Lotto, FDJ and Movistar vied for control of the peloton.

There was a brief blast from Gilbert as he looked to test his form ahead of San Remo, but Omega Pharma Quick Step now looked at their best. Tony Martin handed over to previous race leader Michal Kwiatkowski and with one tricky right-hand corner to go, Cavendish looked on course.

The crash certainly helped him. Greipel, who was relatively far back to start with, lost several of his teammates and was left with an impossible task to get back on terms, as several other sprinters were forced to burn matches from too far back.

By the time Cavendish came around Petacchi's wheel, he already had a huge gap on the rest of the field. Petacchi even had time to sit up and celebrate before realising that second place could be his before Sagan crossed the line for third.

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