Ballerini benefits from more Giro crash chaos as top sprinters go down on the Naples cobbles
CyclingThursday, 14 May 2026 at 17:44
Davide Ballerini has won stage six of the Giro d'Italia. The Italian was the quickest in Naples, where race organisers RCS had drawn up a dangerous finale. Dylan Groenewegen came down in the best position anyone could have asked for — as did Tobias Lund Andresen and Jonathan Milan, among others.
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Naples was hosting a Giro stage for the fifth year running, with the finish going to the sprinters in each of the past three editions. Mads Pedersen won here in 2023, Olav Kooij in 2024 and Kaden Groves last year. The first two are not racing this year; the third went home after crashing on day one.
A gentle opening to stage six
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The riders rolled out at 14:00 — though "rolled out" may be generous, with little appetite for an early breakaway and the opening phase looking more like an extended neutralisation. After the brutal cold, wet, long day of Wednesday, there was every excuse to take it gently and have a chat in the bunch.
Peace was briefly shattered by a crash involving four riders, including sprint favourite Jonathan Milan. His Lidl-Trek teammate Matteo Sobrero and the Uno-X Mobility duo of Andreas Leknessund and Johannes Kulset also went down — though all were able to continue without serious consequences.
Read on below the video!
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Alpecin-Premier Tech had no interest in a parade stage: Edward Planckaert and Luca Vergallito broke clear together to form the day's leading duo. Shortly afterwards came a reaction from Bardiani CSF and Polti VisitMalta, with Mattia Bais, Manuele Tarozzi and Martin Marcellusi closing the gap — but the leash was kept tight and Planckaert read the writing on the wall, drifting back to the bunch.
Shortly afterwards, another crash — this time Nico Denz of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, who went down on a slippery corner but recovered and continued. The rain that had been so threatening turned out lighter and shorter than forecast, much to the relief of riders in southern Italy.
Read on below the video!
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Visma | Lease a Bike stay clear of the danger
The final run into Naples was raced in dry conditions. At 25 kilometres from the line, Alec Segaert of Bahrain Victorious injected some pace at the front — but Visma | Lease a Bike had collectively tucked in at the back of the peloton, keeping out of danger and saving legs for Friday's crucial day towards Blockhaus.
Further forward, space opened up on the Autostrada section for the sprint teams to build their lead-out trains. At 6.8 kilometres, a road narrowing had been flagged by every team as a critical pinch point — but in the end it came and went without incident.
In the run-in, Unibet Rose Rockets were well placed at the front, with the other sprint teams poised. Everyone had one thing in their mind: the final U-turn, just a few hundred metres from the line. "You need to be in the top five going into that corner" had been the universal pre-race message.
Groenewegen's lead-out was superbly positioned, but Soudal Quick-Step and Lidl-Trek came alongside in the final two kilometres — without getting past, thanks to excellent work from Matyas Kopecky and Elmar Reinders. Then the inevitable happened: Groenewegen, Reinders, Lund Andresen and Milan all went down. Ballerini capitalised and held off Stuyven to win.
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Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 6 results
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
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Latest Comments
- The only cyclist who can beat Tadej is Tadej.
Brucegel09-05-2026 - Enough of this b.s. already.Just tell the world all you suspicious people what would satisfy you that he is not doping.live real time urinating and testing?.Live real time blood draws 5 seconds after a race is over?.Fecal analysis.WTF will satisfy you?Brucegel03-05-2026
- This suspicion could be laid to rest by what? What would make all doubters happy that Pogi is clean? Just tell the world all you Frenchmen et al what you want as protocol.You will never be satisfied.That is your level of mindless groundless suspicions.Brucegel03-05-2026
- Here is a novel idea......it's a road bike race, stick to smooth asphalt courses! Cobble is like mild off-road cross riding!!!!Germanrazor14-04-2026
- To lose a race like that on a mechanical problem in this day and age is unforgivable. Why aren't all riders using the same (interchangeable) gear? It is the job of the team manager to manage and reduce risk variables. The fact that he not only didn't pick up on the potential issue but actually ok'd it is just madness.fatehasfans13-04-2026
- Rider X, y and z? Could you update?yaNzKEWL21-03-2026
- Can anyone help me understand the thinking behind the two punishments? Are the commissaires saying you get thrown out of the race for a second inadvertent disposal of a bidon (even to the delight of fans) but that as long as you can afford it you can show off your phalangeal cuticles all day long on international TV? Aking for a friend.packfiller7112-03-2026
- It's a bit embarrassing that. Isn't the main sponsor supposed to keep them at 36.5 ?tomjacques03-03-2026
- They were close to cracking a very tired Tadej that wasn't fully focused on the TdF with a team of riders focused solely on cracking Tadej. And if they cracked him, he would have still won. Tadej won't be racing the giro this year. It'll be an even easier win for him.Veganpotter09-02-2026
- Nice!Bea22-01-2026
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