Sixth in San Giovanni Rotondo, the 30-year-old Belgian moved up to eighth in the general classification.
First successful breakaway of the Corsa Rosa came on Thursday’s 238km-long stage 6 between Cassino and San Giovanni Rotondo, a finish for the first time in history at the race. When a breakaway took off, after several skirmishes, our team made sure it had a man in the move – Pieter Serry. Riding his tenth Grand Tour, Serrytje brought his contribution to the seven-minute lead the escapees got to enjoy ahead of Coppa Casarinelle, the hardest climb so far at this edition.
The concord between the twelve men went up in smokes with 22 kilometers remaning, when Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) and Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli) took off, opening a 30-second gap on the group which Serry tried to bring to life with two accelerations, despite getting fragmented on the ascent.
On the final descent, Pieter tried one more time and distanced his companions, setting off in pursuit of the riders in the front group, from where Masnada outsprinted his countryman. The Belgian’s never-say-die attitude saw him conclude the stage in sixth place for his third top 10 of the season, a result on which he is very keen on building on.
“I had good legs today, I felt good, but unfortunately I followed the wrong riders on the climb when it became tactical. Then I kept trying to go clear, and succeeded on the downhill, where I went full gas. I’m pretty happy with this result, it was a nice day of racing out there. I feel that I’m becoming better and better, and hopefully I will go again in a breakaway”, Pieter said after making inroads in the general classification, where he now lies in eighth position.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
