Giro d’Italia 2022: ‘He’s having a laugh!’ – Surprise as Magnus Cort charges off at start of Stage 6

Updated 12/05/2022 at 14:31 GMT

Magnus Cort injected some fleeting excitement into Stage 6 at the Giro d’Italia after making a sudden dart off the front of the peloton. It certainly caught Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary by surprise as he frantically searched through his notes to see if he had missed something. But Cort was just messing around – this was no day for a madcap one-man mission for glory from EF’s top sprinter.

'He's having a laugh!' - Fake breakaway from Cort takes peloton by surprise at Giro

Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) caused a stir with a cheeky attack at the start of Stage 6 at the Giro d’Italia – a move which initially caused confusion in the Eurosport commentary box.

On one of the flattest stages of this year’s race, the chance of a breakaway making it to the finish were close to nil.

So when the stage rolled out of Palmi on the Italian mainland, there was reluctance from anyone in the peloton – even the small Italian teams keen on air-time for their sponsors – to make an early move.

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But the calm was all too much for one man.

Cort suddenly bolted towards the TV motorbike as he made a solo bid for freedom with the full 192km left to ride.

“This is interesting… Not a team I had down for the breakaway today,” began Hatch.

But the Dane was only messing around, unveiling a huge grin as he got up close with the camera bike before drifting to the side of the road.

“Ahhh, he’s having a laugh at us. EF Education-EasyPost, that would have been a turn up for the books,” continued a relieved Hatch.

“You imagine that they would be waiting and I think that’s exactly what they’re going to do. The rider there was just pulling our leg, it’s Magnus Cort. That really would have been a turn up for the books.”

Cort is EF’s sprinter so launching a sustained madcap one-man mission on a flat stage would be an incredibly reckless move – akin to Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) going for broke from the first pedal push.

He is expected to try his luck in a breakaway later in the race on a stage that suits his strengths.

Inspired by Cort, Pascal Eenkhoorn (Jumbo-Visma) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) zipped clear of the pack just 4km later – but it was all just fun and games.