The peloton left San Benedetto del Tronto early in the morning for the 159 kilometer long stage to Chieti. Only twice before in the history of the Italian race a stage was longer than today. The organisation certainly didn't make it easy for the riders with 2,600 altimeters as well.

About forty kilometres from the finish, the race broke open. In the descent of Penne, the second categorised climb of the day, two riders crashed. Four riders saw their chance and immediately attacked. The already thinned out peloton, including De Vries, never saw these riders again. Liane Lippert won the sixth stage. De Vries finished just over a minute behind the peloton.

"I actually felt quite strong today. I responded several times to attacks by strong riders, but unfortunately we couldn’t get away. I did expect splits in the peloton earlier, but the start of the race was quite controlled”, De Vries looks back. "During the decisive attack I was just getting water at the team car. I don't know if I would have been there otherwise, but it's still a shame. On the final climb I was unfortunately not good enough to accelerate with the strongest riders."

This weekend, there will be two more mountain stages to conclude the Giro. "Fortunately, the climbs are a bit longer then, which suits me better. I have never done so many altimeters in a weekend before. We are going to find out”, De Vries says in good spirits.