Perhaps it was fitting that one former Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner would triumph over another in a cobbled finale at the Giro d'Italia, but it was still a surprise that Davide Ballerini claimed his first ever Grand Tour stage win and XDS-Astana's second so far at this year's race on Thursday's stage 6 in Naples.
The mostly flat stage seemed destined to go to a sprint star like Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) or Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets) but most of the favorites either hit the deck or were caught behind others on a wet, cobbled hairpin with 400 meters to go. Ballerini, on the other hand, stayed upright through the curve and then held off fellow Classics veteran Jasper Stuyven (Soudal-Quick Step) to get his first WorldTour win since the 2021 Omloop.
Stuyven's teammate Paul Magnier finished third on the day, with race leader Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) and all the major GC names earning the same finishing time as well because the crash that held up almost the entire peloton occurred inside the last 5 km.
[race_result id=13 stage_id=89969 count=5 gc=0 year=2026]
[race_result id=13 stage_id=89969 count=5 gc=5 year=2026]
How it happened
- The 141 km stage from Paestoli featured an early crash that saw Milan among those hitting the deck, but the Italian was quickly back on the bike.
- The Alpecin-Premier Tech duo of Edward Planckaert and Luca Vergallito went off the front together some 15 km into the stage and then, after a short chase, they were joined by three other riders to form the day's five-rider move. On a stage with that ended in a sprinter-friendly finish, however, the peloton was always going to keep any escapees on a tight leash.
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