Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sprinted to victory on stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia, winning in Naples on a day that was defined by crashes and chaos.
Groves won by quite a margin ahead of Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep), reaping the rewards of Alpecin-Deceuninck's organisation in a hectic sprint.
It was a frantic finale that saw the peloton only catch the breakaway duo of Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty) and Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) with 2.5km to go. A late flyer from Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) then threatened an upset, but he was swept up, and his sprinter Olav Kooij finished outside of the top 5 after a messy effort from Visma.
Three-time stage winner Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) did not figure in the sprint after easing up in the finale and finishing in a group behind the main peloton, but will remain in the race lead because of the neutralisation.
After a mass crash with 70km to go forced the race to stop, the GC times for the stage were neutralised, meaning all riders were given the same time on the line regardless of gaps, with no bonus seconds or sprint points awarded.
That meant that despite not finishing in the main group, Pedersen holds onto the race lead for another day and will wear the pink jersey in stage 7.
As well as the crash earlier in the day, a spectator appearing to hold a sign walked into the road in the final three kilometres, which disrupted the riders, but they avoided any serious incident.
"It's not been a great start to the season. With the injury, I missed a lot of racing and got here without a win," Groves said following the race finish. "To get the first one is a big relief."
"With the wet roads, they're quite slippery. Knowing that the cobbles started with two kilometres to go, we knew it was super important to be in front," he added. "We also needed to lead the chase and close down the breakaway. I still had two teammates for the finish, and they did a super job."
"I'm quite good in the cold weather, and I had confidence in the team. They always do a super job," Groves said.
How it Unfolded
The Giro's longest stage started in Potenza, with 227km of racing on the way to Naples and an expected bunch sprint on the flat finish. Despite the flat final 60km, there was plenty of climbing packed into the long day, with the 20km Valico di Monte Carruozzo and the 14.6km Monteforte Irpino to contend with on the way.
Despite the likelihood of a sprint finish, there was a big battle for the day's breakaway, with various moves going and coming back in the first 30km, and it wasn't until kilometre 32 that an attack from Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty) seemed to draw out the day's established break. The Dutchman initially went away alone, but was then joined by Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) as the peloton settled and seemed happy for the pair to go up the road for the day.
Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) and Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty) were the day's breakaway protagonists (Image credit: Getty Images)
On the first climb, Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) attacked to chase down mountains points, with Lucas Hamilton (Ineos Grenadiers) briefly trying to follow but failing to hold on. The Italian successfully joined the break and took the maximum points over the climb, but then sat up to wait for the peloton as the leaders' gap increased to over three minutes with 150km to go.
At the intermediate sprint in Lioni, Van der Hoorn and Paleni picked up the maximum points, while behind Pedersen, Kooij and Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Deceuninck) battled for the remaining points, with Plowright winning the three-way battle ahead of Kooij, who edged out Pedersen.
From here, the situation remained stable through the main middle part of the race, though the leaders' advantage did slowly but steadily come down as the day went on, falling under a minute with still 90km to go.
Crash and neutralisation
The race neutralisation following the crash (Image credit: Getty Images)
The rain started to fall in the second half of the race, and the slick roads were to blame for a big, widespread crash on a downhill with 70km to go. More than 40 riders went down or were held up, including Jai Hindley, Adam Yates, Derek Gee and Richard Carapaz. With so many riders down, the race was then neutralised, and the peloton were held at a speed of 20km/h to allow riders to make it back on.
Whilst most riders resumed riding, Hindley stayed down for a long time after appearing to take the heaviest fall, and he later climbed into an ambulance, putting an end to his Giro d'Italia. Josef Černý (Soudal-QuickStep) also got into an ambulance but then continued riding, whilst Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Dion Smith (Intermarché-Wanty) later joined the abandons.
After a few kilometres of neutralised riding, it was announced on race radio that the race would be paused entirely with riders brought to a complete stop to allow things to regroup. Despite some protest from some riders, the break and peloton did all stop with 60km to go.
With the race stopped, the discussions between the riders, organisers and commissaires continued, but after only a few minutes of stoppage, racing restarted with the breakaway given their one-minute gap back.
After the restart, given the weather and poor roads into Naples, it was confirmed that the GC times would be neutralised for the stage, with the whole peloton being given the same time at the finish regardless of gaps, with no time limit and no bonus seconds for the top three, or sprint points. Moreover, there were no points or time bonuses awarded at the Red Bull Kilometre with 52km to go.
Despite the GC neutralisation, there was still a stage win up for grabs, and Visma-Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck started to ride to bring the break back in the final 50km. Lidl-Trek were noticeably missing from the front of the peloton, with Pedersen easing up and dropping into a second group, with his race lead safe due to the GC neutralisation.
With 20km to go, Paleni and Van der Hoorn still had a 30-second lead, despite the best efforts of Visma, Alpecin and Picnic PostNL – with many GC teams taking the opportunity to take it easy into Naples, there was less firepower to close the gap.
They held a gap into the final 10km, and then with 5km to go, their lead was still 20 seconds as it looked touch-and-go whether the catch would actually materialise. Visma lost some organisation on the city roads, giving way to a more organised chase from Alpecin-Deceuninck, and it was the Belgian team who made the catch with 2.5km to go.
The organisation of the lead-outs fell apart somewhat in the final kilometre, with Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Van Aert flying off the front of the bunch without their sprinters on their wheels, but Alpecin's effort paid off nevertheless, and a perfectly-launched sprint delivered Groves to the win with breathing room behind him.
Matilda is an NCTJ-qualified journalist based in the UK who joined Cyclingnews in March 2025. Prior to that, she worked as the Racing News Editor at GCN, and extensively as a freelancer contributing to Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Velo, Rouleur, Escape Collective, Red Bull and more. She has reported from many of the biggest events on the calendar, including the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France Femmes, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. She has particular experience and expertise in women's cycling, and women's sport in general. She is a graduate of modern languages and sports journalism.
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