Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana) won a chaotic, rain-threatened sprint finish in Napoli, where Dylan Groenewegen crashed in the closing metres and the expected battle between the sprint names was completely disrupted. Stage 6 had looked set for a high-speed showdown between Paul Magnier, Jonathan Milan, Groenewegen and the rest of the fast men, but on the final technical cobbled finish with rain beginning to fall near the line. Ballerini emerged out of the disorder and beat Jasper Stuyven to his first Giro stage victory.
“Today was not on the plan. Today our sprinter was Malucelli, I was trying to do the maximum for him. But when we arrived on the last corner, I saw that the first two guys had a crash.
I just exited from the corner, and I heard on the radio ‘Go! Go! Go! To the finish! There is a gap!’ I just started, and I was hoping the line would come really fast. I made it. I’m really happy.”
-Davide Ballerini
“It was a bit slippery, I think. We did an amazing job, and a crash can happen in a sprint. It was really slippery, and that can happen.”
-Dylan Groenewegen (Unibets) crossed the line in 158th.
“I really don’t get why we have to try to find this complicated finish. For sure, we could think that it would rain, and maybe it could be safe to just go straight like some years ago. But no, with two drops of water, a huge mess.”
-Jonathan Milan (Lidl Trek)