That lead is still held by Simon Yates. While the finish to the stage packed a punch, it also largely went by the form book, with Yates attacking with 1.5 kilometres to go, accelerating away to win his second stage of the Giro, and increase his lead to 47 seconds.
His closest rival - Tom Dumoulin - finished two seconds in arrears, and it looks like the duo will be the main protagonists as the race reaches the second half of its script.
The crescendo to stage 11 ending up offering larger time gaps than expected, perhaps due to slightly tired legs after the race was ridden at a fast tempo all day.
The riders knew the stage would be decided in the last five kilometres, and after an undulating day they attacked the finish with ferocity. With Bennett trying to position himself at the front, the attacks flew, with classics specialist Zdenek Stybar linking with Tim Wellens to launch the first escape plan.
The group had to tackle gradients of up to 16 per cent, and after it flattened out, the finale kicked up again, with the road becoming steep again in the last two kilometres.
It was there when Yates made his decisive move, flying past the brief breakaway. Dumoulin came the closest to getting on his wheel, but in the end, all the favourites were distanced, with third-placed Thibaut Pinot and fourth-placed Domenico Pozzovivo losing eight seconds, and fifth-placed Richard Carapaz coming in alongside Bennett, 23 seconds down.
A disappointment for Bennett? Considering his expectations thus far, probably. But with two sprint stages ahead before a mammoth stage 14 on Saturday night, a solid grip on sixth place is an extremely advantageous spot to be in as the race starts to get serious.
Niall Anderson is covering every stage of the Giro d'Italia live for the Herald. He promises to write less for the sprint stages.
Niall's Giro d'Italia wraps
Stage ten
Stage nine
Stage eight
Stage seven
Stage six
Stage five
Stage four
Stage three
Stage two
Stage one
