DISCUSSION - Giro d'Italia stage 6 - Aggressive youngsters need to be punished? Narrow and technical roads again?

Davide Ballerini delivered a dramatic victory for XDS Astana Team on stage six of the Giro d'Italia, emerging from a crash-marred sprint finish in Naples after several leading contenders hit the ground in the final corner.

The 161 kilometres stage from Paestum to Naples had been widely expected to end in a bunch sprint. Aside from a single fourth category climb, the route offered little opportunity for the climbers, although the finale carried its own dangers. The final kilometre featured a narrow run-in over slippery cobbles before a slight uphill drag along the waterfront.

The day began in subdued fashion, with almost no interest in the early breakaway. The peloton’s calm was briefly interrupted when Jonathan Milan crashed during a slowdown for a comfort break. Johannes Kulset and Matteo Sobrero were also caught up in the incident, but all three riders quickly remounted and continued without serious consequences.

The first real move of the day came after roughly ten kilometres, when Edward Planckaert and Luca Vergallito of Alpecin-Premier Tech attacked together. Their effort was later joined by Mattia Bais, Manuele Tarozzi and Martin Marcellusi, but the peloton never allowed the move much freedom.

Sprint teams including Lidl-Trek, Soudal - Quick-Step and Unibet Rose Rockets kept the gap firmly under control at under a minute. Edward Planckaert eventually sat up and returned to the bunch, recognising the move had little chance of survival.

There was further concern later in the stage when Nico Denz crashed heavily and appeared momentarily dazed after landing on his head. The German was nevertheless able to continue.

The breakaway’s resistance finally ended with 35 kilometres remaining. After the intermediate Red Bull sprint was won by Filippo Magli, Alec Segaert launched a late attack in an attempt to disrupt the sprint teams. His move was quickly neutralised as the peloton accelerated toward Naples.

Inside the final five kilometres, Unibet Rose Rockets took responsibility at the front and executed their lead-out impressively. Dylan Groenewegen appeared perfectly positioned heading into the decisive final corner, guided by teammate Elmar Reinders.

But disaster struck on the damp cobbled section. Dylan Groenewegen and Eimar Reinders both slid out in the final bend, triggering a larger crash behind them and instantly reshaping the sprint.

Davide Ballerini managed to avoid the chaos and launched his sprint at exactly the right moment. Jasper Stuyven tried to come around the Italian in the uphill drag to the line, but the Astana rider held firm to secure an emotional victory on home roads. Paul Magnier crossed the line in third place, while Casper van Uden rounded out the top ten.

I’m still processing yesterday’s stage, which was without a doubt a great day of cycling and, for me as a Portuguese, a very special one. After Acácio da Silva and João Almeida, Afonso Eulálio became the third Portuguese rider to wear the Pink Jersey. And had it not been for the crash, he might even have pocketed the stage victory as well.

With tomorrow’s stage offering a brutal menu, more than 240 kilometres and over 4,500 metres of climbing, it was expected that today would be a calmer day for the peloton. Rain had been forecast since the start, but it only arrived with around 80 kilometres to go.

Before that, the riders had to deal with very strong crosswinds. I still hoped some of the smaller teams would light up the race with an aggressive breakaway, but it was Alpecin- Premier Tech that decided to inject some life into the stage. After three dull days in Bulgaria, we really did not need another boring stage.

Because a relaxed day on the bike often means the riders lose a bit of concentration, and crashes like the ones involving Jonathan Milan and Nico Denz start to happen. In the case of the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe rider, it was a nasty crash in a right-hand corner just after the only classified climb of the day. He hit the ground hard and was left in significant pain, unable to get back up on his own. All of this on the eve of a stage as important as Blockhaus.

The fight for position heading into the final kilometres was intense and, up to that point, incident-free… but then came that cobbled section at the finish. Is there not a single Giro stage without crashes? Once again, responsibility cannot simply disappear into thin air and, for me, the blame once again lies with the organisers.

Designing another bunch sprint finish on extremely technical roads, with narrowings, roundabouts and tight corners, before ending on cobbles in the middle of the rainy season, is basically sending the riders to the slaughterhouse.

The cobbles were polished and slightly wet. All the work Unibet Rose Rockets had done for Dylan Groenewegen disappeared in just one corner, just like Soudal’s lead-out for Paul Magnier and Lidl-Trek’s work for Jonathan Milan. Even though they did not crash themselves, they were heavily affected by the incident and taken out of contention for the stage win.

A final note on the aggressive behaviour of two young spectators. How is it possible that those two idiots reached the point of behaving like that? At one roundabout they even made contact with a Soudal - Quick-Step rider. The television images were crystal clear and you could easily see both of their faces. Hopefully the Italian authorities act accordingly and hand out exemplary punishment. This is exactly the kind of person that should never be allowed anywhere near the roadside.

Now it’s time for the riders to recover, both physically and mentally. Tomorrow, over just 140 kilometres, the peloton faces a brutal day on the bike. I have a feeling we could see a surprise winner on the stage... and my money isn’t on Jonas Vingegaard or Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Care to make a prediction?

Today was just a bad day of cycling, there is no way of putting it. For years the race organizers have been putting stage finales in Napoli for the sprinters. This time around, there was a push to make the finale in one of the city's main squares.

Beautiful, I understand, but a safety hazard. Even in the dry it would be, because you have two sharp corners in the final kilometer, in cobbles, with a World Tour peloton coming at full speed.

In the rain, literally had disaster written all over it. I don't think I've ever seen a stage with a telegraphed crash that was more clear than this. The sprint would've been great to see if everyone was upright, but that wasn't to happen.

If you look at the crash, it would never be, because the sprinters slid out so easily that it looked fully inevitable, and lucky they didn't make it to Napoli 5 minutes later, when the rain began falling heavily.

For the sprinters, it is a joke. The full day working and doing their leadout... Imagine Unibet, who did a perfect leadout work and had Dylan Groenewegen in perfect position; Or an Orluis Aular who was second a few days ago and now looked injured from the crash. For these professionals, it is almost like a prank.

In the end we had a battle between those who survived the crash. Nothing to take away from Davide Ballerini, the way he finished last year's Tour de France was great, and it is good to see him rewarded with a big win after some years where he struggled to get results due to the increase in the peloton's level.

But for me the main topics of the day are not the racing, and that is a shame. The second is the incident in which two kids, two idiots, tried causing a crash in a roundabout repeatedly. There is every and any reason for foul language, and I seriously hope that at the very least they are jailed.

That incident showcases the worst in people, taking advantage of a sport where fans have so much access to the riders. It is a threat to the riders, and it is a direct hit for other spectators who one day may have access to the riders restricted, because of a very few idiots.

I sincerely hope they are identified, jailed and prosecuted. I believe what we saw can be interpreted as attempted manslaughter and I hope to never see it again from others.

It is worth remembering that, as an outdoor sport, adverse weather conditions are part of road cycling. While everyone regrets the constant crashes, there is little organisers can do when a bunch sprint on wet cobbles turns into a bottleneck of riders fighting for position. When we enjoy the spectacle of the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix, we tend to judge the demands placed on the Giro d'Italia by a very different standard.

As for the racing itself, there was not much to separate the contenders. The peloton remained obsessed with keeping the breakaway under control because every sprinter in Naples wanted their victory photo today.

It was not to be for the Unibet Rose Rockets, who spent the final 10 kilometres battling for position for veteran Dylan Groenewegen. Nor was it the day of Paul Magnier, while Venezuelan Orluis Aular crossed the finish line frustrated after crashing despite being perfectly placed in the closing metres.

The rider of the day was Davide Ballerini who, like a true rider from the XDS Astana Team, avoided every obstacle on the rain-soaked streets of Naples to deliver a second victory for the Kazakh squad in the southern Italian city.