Baby watch 6

Naturgas due Mikel Bizkarra and Pello Bilbao were back in action in Italy today after yesterday's rest-day. On the menu today for the duo, along with their Basque Elite category riders Romero, Filgueirea and Artola, was a pancake-flat trek from Castelfranco Emilia to Cesenatico, home of the one and only Marco Pantani. Given the parcours one would expect the peloton to stay together and sprint it out for the wind, but not so much in this year's Baby Giro. Paolo Locatelli escaped solo to grab the biggest win of his career whilst the pack split up into several pieces behind. After showing encouraging signs in the mountains the last few days, I hoped Mikel and Pello might be able to stay with the front-runners on the flats as well. That wasn't to be, though, as Mikel, along with Artola and Filgueirea, came in 1:17 back, while Pello struggled home 2:08 down. Igor Romero did a lot better by taking 12th, so good on him. Six stages down, three to go.