Astana's Ballerini has impressive day in Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 6

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - A long and impressive day in the breakaway for Davide Ballerini, as he took off shortly after the start of stage 6 to be caught only 3 kilometers before the finish in Jesi, the place of birth of Michele Scarponi, Kazinform has learnt from the club's press service.

The initial breakaway group of 7 riders worked well together but reduced during the stage. In the final local laps, Ballerini went solo. But unlike the past two days when his teammates took a stage win after a solo, this time it all came down to a bunch sprint, won by Julian Alaphilippe. Jakob Fuglsang is still third overall before tomorrow's decisive ITT (10 km), 35 seconds behind leader Adam Yates and 10 seconds on Primoz Roglic. Alexey Lutsenko retained his GPM jersey and will likely win this classification, as tomorrow will be a flat ITT.

"This morning it was our plan to go for the early breakaway, and maybe try to stay in the front until the finish. In the end, it all ended for me with only 3 kilometers to go. I hoped to surprise in the final laps because my legs felt very good. Of course, I will try to bring this feeling to Milan-Sanremo on Saturday and to all the Belgium classics in the weeks after. So far, I'm feeling very good this season, so let's see if I can take a victory as well for the team. I'm inspired by the performances of my teammates," said Davide Ballerini.