It had started to drizzle just before the peloton, making the situation on the cobbled 180-degree bend uncontrollable. While Groenewegen, who was in second place behind his rider around the last bend 600 metres before the finish, slipped off on the outside of the bend and all the other favourites behind him also had to come off their bikes or were at least held up, Ballerini stayed on his bike on the inside. Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) also slipped through unscathed and went onto the home straight on the Italian's rear wheel. However, the Belgian was unable to counter the 31-year-old's sprint, which gave the hosts their first stage win of the tour.

"I was already flirting with the idea of winning a stage here at the Giro," said Ballerini, who had travelled to Italy in good form, in the winner's interview. "But that wasn't the plan today. We wanted to sprint for Matteo Malucelli. I tried to give everything for him. But when we entered the last corner, I saw that the first two riders had crashed. I rode onto the home straight and they said to me on the radio: Go, go, go! I sprinted off and hoped that the finish would come quickly."

Criticism from Milan and Ackermann

The number worked, Ballerini celebrated the twelfth victory of his career. Alongside winning the Omloop Nieuwsblad 2021, it is his greatest success. The Astana team became the most successful team with its second stage win. But the joy was not universal. Milan and Pascal Ackermann (Team Jayco AlUla) in particular criticised the organisers afterwards for the finale, which was unnecessarily complicated.

Little changed in the overall standings after 141 kilometres from Paestum to Naples. Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain - Victorious) easily defended the pink jersey. The stage was uneventful for long stretches, even a leading group had only been formed with difficulty. That will change tomorrow. The first mountain finish of the tour is on the programme at Blockhaus.

Giro d'Italia 2026 - Results of the 6th stage

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How the 6th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2026 went

There was very little interest in a breakaway group on stage 6. After a few kilometres, the Alpecin duo of Luca Vergallito and Edward Planckaert suddenly found themselves ahead of the peloton, riding just under a minute ahead of the bunch. The three Italians Manuele Tarozzi, Martin Marcellusi (both Bardiani - CSF - 7 Saber) and Mattia Bais (Polti - VisitMalta) caught up to the first and only mountain classification of the day (4th category).

While Bais secured the points at the top, Nico Denz crashed shortly afterwards when his front wheel simply slipped off in a corner. The Red Bull pro looked dazed, but continued the race. In Felix Engelhardt (Team Jayco AlUla), a German had already abandoned the race before the stage.

While the breakaway's lead had already shrunk to 20 seconds, the gap subsequently widened somewhat, but did not crack the minute mark. Rain set in 80 kilometres before the finish, but it cleared relatively quickly. At the intermediate sprint 49 kilometres before the finish, Tarozzi achieved his personal goal for the day, collecting twelve points and thus extending his lead in the corresponding classification. After that, however, the motivation in the group quickly disappeared again. They were caught 37 kilometres before the finish.

At the Red Bull kilometre 24 kilometres from the finish, the classification riders held back. The Italian teams were fighting for points, not seconds. After that, the full focus was on the finale. But even that could not prevent the crash on the final bend. Numerous pros slipped on the cobblestones - it had started to drizzle shortly beforehand. Ballerini and Stuyven, who slipped past the fallen riders on the inside, went into the final 600 metres with a large gap on the rest. The Italian then had the better cards in his favour in the sprint.