Luis Felipe Laverde (Panaria) has won Stage 6 of the Giro d?Italia. The Colombian took a two-up sprint from Marco Pinotti (T-Mobile) to win the rugged, 177-km ride from Tivoli to Spoleto in 4:58:23. Christophe Kern (Credit Agricole) outsprinted Hubert Schwab (Quick Step) for third at 1:30. Pinotti has taken the maglia rosa from Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas).

The stage was ridden under clear skies and mild temperatures. After a series of abortive sallies, Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff) escaped after 50 km. Pinotti, Kern, Schwab, and Laverde joined the Italian, and the quintet led the field by 1:40 at 67 km. Halfway up the Category 1 climb of Monte Terminillo, Pinotti, who began the day 46^th overall at 3:11, became the virtual maglia rosa.

At the summit of Monte Terminillo (94 km), the escapees led the bunch by 6:18. At the feed zone at 122 km, the break led the Liquigas-led peloton by 7:25. Liquigas was not doing much leading because the team had decided to let another team take the maglia rosa to spare the squad energy that it would need later in the race.

One of the quintet would win the stage, but whom? On the day?s last climb, the Category 2 Forca di Cerro, Laverde attacked and only Pinotti could follow. The final selection had been made.

The two leaders had an arrangement: Laverde would win the stage, and Pinotti would take the maglia rosa. The T-Mobile man led the pair into the last 600 m and then allowed Laverde to take the lead. The peloton ambled home 7:09 later.

In the overall, Pinotti leads Schwab by 3:30 and Di Luca by 4:12. Stage 6 will not change this state of affairs. The flat, 254-km ride from Spoleto to Scarperia, the longest stage of this year?s Giro, should be decided by a bunch sprint. Who will win it? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!