Mark Cavendish collected his second Giro D'Italia stage win when he took the sixth stage in Margherita di Savoia.
The first ever Chinese rider Cheng Ji of Argos Shimano in the Giro was too ill to take part in this 169 km stage from Mola di Bari to Margherita di Savoia but 204 riders did start on a stage destined to be won by the sprinters.
On a day when many of the riders remembered Wouter Weylandt died following a crash some two years to the day, the first break formed with fourteen kilometres gone with Jack Bobridge (Blanco) and Cameron Wurf (Cannondale) getting away.
The duo were allowed by the peloton that included race and points leader Luca Paolini to get 6.25 clear.
Mark Cavendish finished fourth in the intermediate sprint won by Wurf with 102kms remaining. Wurf took the second sprint at Barletta.
At average speeds of 40.422kmph, the peloton brought the gap down to 2.39 with 65kms remaining.
The time gap continued to drop and with 39kms to go, Eros Capecchi was one of a number of riders who went down following a touch of wheels.
Bobridge and Wurf were finally swept up by the peloton with 36.5kms remaining
Four kilometres later, Bradley Wiggins and a mass of riders were held up by a massive crash on what would be the finish straight after two sixteen kilometres laps.
Katusha took to the front keeping Paolini safe and the pace was slowed to allow those held up to get back into the peloton.
Astana took over front running duties once racing had resumed. Movistar's Alex Dowsett and Manuel Boara had their turns at the head of the peloton which was heading through the region known for Margheritta pizza,
Into the final three kilometres and Sir Bradley Wiggins was leading them out, whilst the sprinters massed behind the Team Sky rider.
Mark Cavendish has been brought into a decent position and brought home his second victory of the race in a time of 3.56.03 beating Viviani and Goss.
"It was incredible," said Cavendish who dedicated his win to Wouter Weylandt . "I am so happy nothing went wrong. "Imagine when you get a kit car and you put it together (i'm the noisy exhaust) and it works. It all worked perfectly today. "
Luca Paolini continues to lead Rigoberto Uran by 17 seconds.