Victorious on stage 3 last weekend, the Brit was again in contention.
Just like in 2000 – until today, the only time the race had visited Scalea – the stage finishing in the small Calabrese town came down to a mass gallop, although unlike 22 years ago, the terrain was ideally suited to the sprinters, who arrived in the final kilometer after a calm and quiet stage that had in the spotlight a one-man breakaway for almost four hours.
The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl train was in prime position under the flamme rouge, but things changed in the blink of an eye, when a move of another rider who cut across forced Bert to hit the brakes, leaving Mark Cavendish only with Michael Mørkøv for company for the last 800 meters of the stage. The Dane had to do an extra load of work in the wind before launching the Manxman, who took off with 250 meters to go and claimed third place at the end, as Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) notched up the victory in a photo finish.
The race continues Friday with the complicated stage 7 from Diamante to Potenza, whose up-and-down rough terrain is perfect for a breakaway, but also for a shake-up of the general classification.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
