“Experienced guys like Dylan Groenewegen keep pedalling through a corner on cobbles” - Jasper Stuyven questions rivals after Stage 6 ends in dramatic Giro d’Italia crash chaos

Stage 6 of the 2026 Giro d’Italia has left another safety debate hanging over the race after a late crash wrecked the sprint in Napoli and turned what had looked like a fight between the fastest men into another chaotic finale.

Davide Ballerini came through the disorder to take victory for XDS Astana Team, continuing their remarkable opening week, but the final corner shaped almost every reaction afterwards. Dylan Groenewegen went down on the wet cobbles after Unibet Rose Rockets had controlled the run-in, Paul Magnier was delayed, Jonathan Milan was left frustrated by the route design, and Jasper Stuyven suddenly found himself with an unexpected chance to win.

The Soudal - Quick-Step rider came within metres of catching Ballerini, but his own sprint was compromised after the crash in front of him. “I wasn’t immediately in my pedal,” Stuyven told Sporza afterwards. “Someone must have ridden into my derailleur, because I couldn’t shift anymore. The derailleur was jumping from left to right. I did sprint, but not in the gear I wanted. I hoped to get into Ballerini’s slipstream. It’s a shame that the equipment worked against me.”

Asked whether he would have won without that problem, Stuyven stopped short of making a definite claim, but he admitted the chance was real. “I’m not saying I definitely would have come past, but I do think the chance was big,” he said. “I had already made an effort in the final kilometre, I was fully in the wind. That was in the legs.”

For Stuyven, the frustration was sharpened by the fact he had not been meant to contest the sprint himself. His job was to guide Magnier into position, with the Frenchman chasing a third stage win of the race and already wearing the ciclamino jersey. “If they don’t crash, then I’m perfectly placed to do the lead-out,” Stuyven said.

Instead, the crash opened the road for Ballerini, disrupted Magnier, and left Stuyven trying to improvise a sprint on damaged equipment. The Belgian also pointed directly at the choices made in the corner itself, where the wet cobbles made the finale especially delicate.

“I find it a shame that guys like Elmar and Dylan, who have so much experience, keep pedalling through a corner on cobbles,” Stuyven said. “I already thought it was very bold that they dared to do that. Then you also see that it goes wrong. It’s understandable, because they are in the perfect position and they don’t want to give it up. Those cobbles are just super slippery, especially when it starts to rain.”

Groenewegen later said his front wheel had simply slipped away and insisted Unibet had done nothing wrong, with the Dutch sprinter praising his team despite the crash. Stuyven’s comments, though, added another layer to the post-stage discussion, framing the incident as a mix of rider instinct, sprint pressure and conditions that left no margin for error.

Stuyven’s criticism did not stop with the riders. Like Milan, who questioned why the Giro needed to use such complicated finishes when rain was forecast, Stuyven also suggested the crash could have been avoided with a more straightforward run-in.

Standing on a wide avenue after the finish, he questioned why the race had needed to turn onto the cobbles at all. “We are standing here on a very wide avenue. What is wrong with that?” Stuyven said. “The coastal shots would also have been beautiful images. I don’t think it was necessary to turn onto the cobbles. It is a shame that they always go looking for it, especially because it could perfectly have been avoided and because a nice finish could also have been laid out here.”

The timing of the rain made the finale even more brutal. The first drops began falling close to the finish just as the sprint trains were preparing for the decisive kilometres, turning an already technical finale into a far more dangerous one.

“If we arrive three minutes earlier, it isn’t raining,” Stuyven acknowledged. “But it is always only afterwards that we discuss it. That is a shame. It is frustrating when you feel beforehand that it will be a dangerous finish.”

For Ballerini and Astana, Stage 6 became another dream result in a Giro that has already delivered far more than expected. For several of the sprinters, it was another missed opportunity. For the wider race, it was another day where the finish-line debate continued long after the result was known.