"This is amazing. I don't have words" - Pelayo Sanchez in disbelief after taking first Grand Tour stage win at Giro d'Italia

On his Giro d'Italia debut, Pelayo Sanchez has powered to a stunning stage 6 victory ahead of Julian Alaphilippe and Luke Plapp from the breakaway.

"To be honest, this is amazing. I don't have words. A crazy, crazy day for me," reflected the Movistar Team prodigy with disbelief in his post-stage interview. "Since the start of the Giro I've tried to save energy because I knew I hadn't had the shape to at the front on the first day. So I tried to save for today and I got in the breakaway but I could never imagine winning a stage here. It's crazy!"

After a brutal day in the saddle on Giro d'Italia's mini-Strade Bianche, Sanchez, Plapp and Alaphilippe came into the final kilometre knowing victory was one of the trios. "I knew it was going to be a really hard day. All the day as full gas, so I tried to wait for my moment," he explains. "At the end with Plapp and Alaphilippe, I tried to cooperate with them, but also tried to drop them (laughs). But it was impossible."

"At the end, in the sprint, luckily I was the fastest," the Spaniard concludes with a wry smile.