NAPLES, Italy, May 14 : Italian Davide Ballerini won stage six of the Giro d’Italia as a crash on the cobbles took out several sprint specialists near the finish in Naples on Thursday.
Ballerini (XDS Astana Team) comfortably beat Belgium’s Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) on the city centre finish after a flat 142km ride from Paestum.
A relatively incident-free stage burst into life in the final kilometres as the sprinters moved into position.
But with light rain making the surface treacherous, a crash inside the final kilometre took down Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets) and several other riders.
“It was a bit slippery and it can happen,” Groenewegen said. “It’s disappointing. Sometimes you have bad luck.”
Ballerini and Stuyven managed to avoid the chaos and powered to the line with Ballerini proving too strong.
Overall race leader Afonso Eulalio of Portugal finished safely in the main pack.
