VIDEO: Dangerous spectators spark fury at Giro d’Italia as fans appear to step towards riders and make pushing gestures

The Giro d’Italia has already had more than enough danger in its opening week, but Stage 6 brought a different kind of scare as spectators appeared to interfere with the race on the road to Napoli.

With the day’s four-man breakaway still out front and the peloton closing in behind, television footage showed a group of young spectators on a roundabout in Brusciano stepping towards the riders as they passed.

One appeared to make pushing gestures in the direction of the breakaway, prompting an angry reaction from the riders.

The incident came around 50 kilometres from the finish, just as the race was moving through the intermediate sprint section. Manuele Tarozzi, Mattia Bais, Martin Marcellusi and Luca Vergallito were still ahead at the time, though their advantage had already been reduced by the sprint teams.

While there was no immediate crash from the incident, the images were alarming. Riders were already navigating narrow road furniture, corners, changing weather and the usual stress of a sprint stage, with a technical finale still to come in Napoli.

Any movement from spectators towards the road can have serious consequences, particularly when riders are travelling at speed and fighting to hold position. The reaction from the breakaway made clear how dangerous the moment felt from inside the race.

Stage 6 had already seen another crash earlier in the day, with Nico Denz among those to go down on a bend near the top of the day’s only categorised climb. The Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe rider was able to continue, but looked shaken after hitting the ground.

Against that backdrop, the behaviour on the roundabout added another needless flashpoint to a Giro that has been repeatedly marked by crashes, withdrawals and nervous racing since the opening weekend.

Watch the incident for yourself down below!