More than 20 minutes after Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) claimed the victory on stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia, the sight of Mark Cavendish pedalling a solitary path towards the Astana Qazaqstan team bus made it clear that this had been a second successive, tough day at the office for the British sprint champion.
Following stage 5’s dramatic late, high-speed crash, Cavendish had already made it clear at the stage 6 start that although he was not badly injured, he was uncertain how the day would play out.
