Davide Ballerini won Stage 6 of the 109th Giro d’Italia on Thursday — not because he was supposed to, but because he was the one left standing. A mass crash at the cobbled final bend handed the XDS Astana rider clear road into Naples’ Piazza del Plebiscito, and he made no mistake, powering up the 4% drag to the line ahead of Jasper Stuyven and Paul Magnier, both of Soudal Quick-Step.
Ballerini had been working the race in service of sprinter Matteo Malucelli. That plan lasted until the final corner.
The 141-kilometre stage from Paestum had looked straightforward enough — a fourth-category climb at Cava de’ Tirreni the only real interruption before the sprint teams took over the race in the closing kilometres. Then light rain began to fall. The Giro had routed the peloton onto cobbles inside the final 700 metres, with a 180-degree bend sitting just 300 metres from the line. Unibet Rose Rockets’ Elmar Reinders clipped a hole on the corner and slid out. Dylan Groenewegen went down milliseconds later. Tobias Lund Andresen, Orluis Aular, Malucelli and others followed. Jonathan Milan avoided the tarmac but was blocked regardless. The sprint was effectively over before it started.
Ballerini and Stuyven threaded the inside line. They were the only two with clear road into the straight. Ballerini got the jump.
“I thought I could win a stage at the Giro, but certainly not this one and not in this way. Today, our sprinter was Matteo Malucelli, but when we entered the final corner, I saw two riders go down. They told me to go for it. […] Fortunately, I made it. I’ve finally won a stage of the Giro d’Italia!” — Davide Ballerini
It’s the eleventh win of his career — and comfortably the most significant. A Giro stage on home roads, delivered in circumstances nobody at XDS Astana had planned for.
The Crash — and the Controversy
Unibet Rose Rockets had controlled the final three kilometres superbly. Matyas Kopecky and Reinders held off the Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quick-Step trains as the peloton sped through Naples’ waterfront, Groenewegen perfectly placed. Then the road turned against them. Team director Bas Tietema was blunt after the finish: “We were the team that dominated until the final corner.” He wasn’t wrong.
Milan was in no mood to be diplomatic. The Lidl-Trek sprinter — who had already crashed during a peloton neutralisation in the opening kilometres — got through the finale on his feet, but not without something to say about how the stage had been designed.
“I really don’t get why we have to find these complicated finishes. You can be well aware in advance that it could rain. Now you get two drops of rain and it’s a complete mess. I am just disappointed. I was in a good position, in good shape, but they try to look for these things for a bit of hype sometimes.” — Jonathan Milan
“A few years ago we also finished here, but on a final straight without any corners.” — Jonathan Milan
Stuyven had seen it coming. The day before, he’d warned that “if it rains, it’s not going to be funny.” After finishing second, he made the same point with a little more edge: “We are standing here on a very wide avenue. What is wrong with that?” He also had little sympathy for the riders who crashed — “I find it a shame that guys like Elmar and Dylan, who have so much experience, keep pedalling through a corner on cobbles.”
Groenewegen kept it measured. “It was really slippery, and that’s what happens. We were in the right position again — sometimes you have bad luck.”
General Classification
The GC was untouched by the stage. Afonso Eulálio of Bahrain Victorious holds the maglia rosa with a 2:51 advantage over Igor Arrieta of UAE Team Emirates-XRG. Jonas Vingegaard sits 15th, already 6:22 down on the Portuguese rider — a gap that opened up at the Apennine summit finish at Montevergine di Mercogliano on Stage 3. Magnier’s third-place finish extends his maglia ciclamino lead to 130 points, more than double Milan’s tally of 64.
What’s Next
The race leaves Naples on Friday for Stage 7, with GC contenders watching closely. Vingegaard and the climbers will be looking to move before the race hits serious mountain terrain. For the sprinters, Thursday’s chaos won’t be forgotten quickly — and with Milan’s comments already making the rounds, the route design debate looks set to follow the peloton north.
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