A disappointed Stuyven takes aim at Reinders and Groenewegen: 'They have so much experience'

Jasper Stuyven came agonisingly close to a stage win in stage six of the Giro d'Italia on Thursday, after he and eventual winner Davide Ballerini of XDS Astana were the only two riders to come cleanly through the final corner. But not entirely unscathed, the Soudal Quick-Step Belgian revealed to Sporza after processing his disappointment.

Stuyven was riding in second wheel, with teammate Paul Magnier on his wheel. The purple points jersey couldn't avoid the crash involving Dylan Groenewegen and Elmar Reinders — leaving Stuyven to chase Ballerini alone, but unable to close the gap. That made for a bitterly disappointing afternoon, as footage from CyclingPro.net shows.

Anyone who hears Stuyven's explanation will understand that disappointment. "Someone must have ridden into my derailleur, because I lost all ability to change gear. The derailleur was jumping from left to right. I was sprinting — just not in the gear I wanted. I was hoping to get into Ballerini's slipstream, and it's frustrating when your equipment lets you down."

"I'm not saying I would definitely have got past him — but I think my chances were good. I'd already put in an effort in the final kilometre and I was fully in the wind. That was in the legs," said the man who was supposed to be leading out Magnier, but impressively finished third regardless. "If they don't crash, I'm in the perfect position to deliver the lead-out."

Back to that crash — which Stuyven watched unfold from close range. "I find it a shame that riders like Elmar and Dylan — who have so much experience — keep pedalling through a corner on cobblestones. I thought it was already extremely bold that they were willing to risk it."

"And then you see it go wrong. It's understandable, because they're in the perfect position and they don't want to give it up. Those little cobblestones are simply incredibly slippery, especially when it starts to rain. If we'd arrived three minutes earlier, it wasn't raining."

"But we only ever discuss these things afterwards. That is a shame. It's frustrating when you feel beforehand that it's going to be a dangerous finish," said Stuyven — the riders' representative at this Giro — already venting his frustration.

"The coastal roads would have made for great images too. I don't think it was necessary to bring us around that cobbled bend. It's a shame they always go looking for it — especially when it's perfectly avoidable and there's a perfectly good finish available here anyway," he told Sporza at the team bus.