Sprinting is not just about speed. It is often also a waiting game. Arnaud Demare and his Groupama-FDJ team were 300 meters past the finish line in Scalea, waiting for the results of stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia. As the news came through their earphones, cheers must have been heard all the way to the beach. De Mare's perseverance just before the finish line was rewarded with his second consecutive stage win.

Jacopo Guarnieri led the race, with Demare safely at the wheel going into the last 200 meters. Instead, he let Mark Cavendish (Quick Step-Alfa Vinyl) and Caleb Yuan (Lotto-Soudal) get ahead of him and then pulled himself together as the Giro Arrivo flag came into full view.

Demare had a point to recover, but he also had the speed and confidence to do so. He overhauled Ewan with a clever bike throw at the last minute, but the race judges needed to take into account the photo finish before determining a winner.

The 30 minutes waiting for the white smoke seemed like an eternity. Before the sprint in Scalea, one already had to spend the slowest stage of the race.

"It was clear from the photo finish that it was a very close race and I really didn't know if I had won. I still had to wait for the decision," DeMare said after the race.

"I was able to reward the work of the whole team who did a formidable job for me. Coming up from behind is not my sprinting style, but I felt I had the power and the space to move."

"I was able to get a good start,"

DeMarre said after the race, "and I was able to get a good start.

While De Mare preferred to buy time in the sprint, Cavendish was perhaps forced to start his sprint a little earlier than he would have liked. While Michael Morkov calmly guided Cavendish to a shelter on the left side of the road, Bert Van Lerberghe, who was at his tail, lost his position with about 500 meters to go. Cavendish had more work left to do than originally planned, especially given the conditions.

"I think Arnaud made the right choice not to sprint first and come from behind," Cavendish said. 'The finish was slightly uphill and there was a headwind even if the leaves weren't moving. I think he timed it perfectly."

Cavendish won the third stage, Balatonfüredo, by powering through from 300 meters out, but no two sprints are the same. This time, he sprinted to the front at full speed, but was unable to fend off the chasing pack until the finish line, where he was passed by Ewan with less than 50 meters to go.

Ewan must have thought the victory was his when he found the open road to his right, but Demaret caught him in the end; the two jumped to the finish line at the same time, but the Frenchman's throw proved decisive. When I'm training, I throw my bike in the sprint," DeMare said. I'm training, and I throw my bike in the sprint," De Mare said.

Ewan, like Demaret, held on as he crossed the finish line and waited for the race jury's verdict. When the news reached the Lotto Soudal athletes around him, the Australian's disappointment was clear. I'm disappointed," he said. It was super hard and super messy, but Demare was faster."

Ewan crashed heavily in the opening stage at Vissegrade while battling with Mathieu van der Pol (Alpecin-Phoenix) and Biniam Guillemay (Intermarché Wanty-Gaubert Materio) for the pink jersey. He finished eighth in Balatonfured on stage 3, but fell before the sprint in Messina on Wednesday. Second place here would have meant some sort of progress, but it didn't feel like it. ''I was just trying to get back to the top,'' Ewan said.

Meanwhile, De Mare was already on his way to the podium, celebrating his seventh career Giro stage win. With this victory, De Mare is in pole position to win Maria Ciclamino for the second time, following her four-stage victory in 2020. De Mare now has 147 points, 53 points ahead of Zirme.

"I'm thinking about the points jersey, but it's a long Giro and it's won with endurance. We have to work hard in the coming weeks. I know there will be challenges ahead, but maybe we can get more points in the future."

The terrain gets steeper as the Giro reaches Basilicata, the southernmost point, and heads up the peninsula to Sunday's summit finish at Brockhaus Mountain. Sprinters will face another wait until the sprint in Reggio Emilia on stage 11.

"The next chance is after the rest day," De Mare said. 'I plan to stay calm and do well on the gruppetto.' With two wins already under his belt, he can afford to be patient.