NAPLES :Kaden Groves of Alpecin–Deceuninck won the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia in a sprint finish on Thursday after the stage was neutralised following a huge crash in wet conditions on the 227 km ride from Potenza to Naples.
The longest stage of this year’s Giro had only a winner to celebrate as the crash which occurred with about 70 km to go forced organisers to make the decision not to award points, time gaps or bonuses.
Groves crossed the finish line a few seconds shy of five hours on the road, ahead of Cofidis rider Milan Fretin. Paul Magnier of Soudal Quick-Step, who had also crashed earlier in the stage, finished third.
“It’s a big relief. The team always believed in me. It’s not been a great start of the season, but then with the injury I missed a lot of racing. I arrived here without a win, so getting the first one for the year is a big relief,” Groves said.
“These wet roads are quite slippery, knowing the cobbles starting around the two-km mark was super important to be in front. But in the end, we also needed to use some guys early to chase, close the breakaway, they did a super ride.
“Once it started raining, I felt quite a bit better actually. I’m quite good in the colder, wetter conditions.”
The peloton was 47 seconds behind the lead duo of Enzo Paleni and Taco van der Hoorn when several riders in the bunch – including former Giro winners Jai Hindley and Richard Carapaz – crashed on the slippery road.
The race was neutralised and the peloton slowed down by the race director before it resumed with nothing on offer apart from a stage win.
Hindley, the 2022 Giro winner, was sat by the side of the road and the 29-year-old, clearly in pain, was forced to abandon as he eventually got into an ambulance for treatment.
Carapaz, whose jersey had been torn in the fall, rejoined the peloton while Soudal Quick-Step’s Josef Cerny had to abandon the race as well.
Bahrain Victorious’ Rainer Kepplinger was taken to hospital with an injured finger, cuts and bruises while his teammate Max van der Meulen will undergo medical tests later in the day.
With teams opting not to take any risks until the finale, they eventually caught up with the lead duo with less than three kilometres to go while Mads Pedersen, who has won three stages, eased up and did not sprint to the finish.
However, he retained the race lead, with the Danish rider holding a 17-second advantage over Primoz Roglic.
