Mads Pedersen in pink despite crash on Giro d'Italia stage six

Times

6 days ago

Kaden Groves sprinted to victory in a rain and crash-affected stage six of the Giro d'Italia in which the race leader, Mads Pedersen, crashed on the slippery roads.
The Australian, of Alpecin-Deceuninck, unleashed an almighty sprint in Naples after twisting and turning through the cobbled streets to take his first win of the season ahead of Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step).
But even if we expected this 227km stage to be one for the sprinters, the Giro showed once again why it is perhaps the most unpredictable grand tour of the year due to its position in May often throwing up issues outside of the riders' or race director's control — think of Geraint Thomas in pink, riding through Verbier in the torrential rain in 2023.
And so it was on stage six when a mass crash caused havoc, forcing some riders to abandon the race, and later a protester ran out in front of the peloton within the final 3km.
The crash came with 71km to go on the way from Potenza to Naples as the rain came down and the roads became shiny and the white lines on the tarmac became slippery. As the breakaway's gap was falling to about 45 seconds, Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) apparently slipped while braking in the centre of the peloton and hit the ground hard. Numerous riders came down behind him, including Pedersen and fellow general classifcation (GC) contender Richard Carapaz.
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) also took a tumble among the masses of riders on the floor, but while most were able to get up and carry on, Hindley sat by the roadside, dazed (perhaps concussed) and making no efforts to stand.
Soon after Australian Hindley, the 2022 Giro d'Italia winner, was taken away by the medical team and had to abandon the race. It was a horrible loss for the Giro and as well as a disappointment for the Red Bull rider, it was a blow for Primoz Roglic, the favourite to win the Pink Jersey, who has lost his key lieutenant for the mountains to come.
The race was neutralised at this point and rolled on at 20km/h until it was halted completely. And so an argument we're used to having at the Giro d'Italia continued: are wet and slippery roads part and parcel of professional cycling, or are they a risk too far with the speeds of the modern day?
The GC teams would have been quite happy to neutralise the entire race but Mauro Vegni, the race director, faces other pressures, including a contract with Naples to bring the race there. The rain wasn't too hard, but the roads were treacherous. If there was enough danger to cause a crash on an innocuous flat, straight road, a sprint finish may well have been deemed too much.
A compromise was reached however. The race started again with 58km to go. There was a stage win up for grabs but that was it. All riders would receive the same time as the winner, meaning all GC riders were safe. There would be no points on offer for the points-classification Ciclamino Jersey and there would be no bonus seconds awarded on the finish line. Otherwise the race was back on and the breakaway was given its original gap back.
Meanwhile Pedersen, who appeared to be rubbing his right thigh in the peloton after the crash, sat up and dropped behind the leading group. It was clear he wasn't going to complete the sprint finish and wanted to take advantage of the GC neutralisation to avoid any danger. So for the other teams there was a chance for a victory.
Cue Visma–Lease a Bike heading to the front of the group chasing down the two-man breakaway of Taco van der Hoorn and Enzo Paleni in service of their sprinter Olav Kooij.
With 10km to go, the valiant breakaway, which had got away with 195km to go, still had 24 seconds on the reduced sprinters' peloton. For a moment, as they entered the twisting roads of Naples, it looked as if the breakaway may make it to the finish. But a protester ran out onto the road with 3km to go, disrupting their efforts, and soon the peloton behind had swallowed the breakaway up.
The sprint was as messy as the stage itself. Jensen Plowright, Groves's team-mate, went off the front, leaving behind his team in the last kilometre and forcing Wout van Aert to chase him down, only for the Belgian's team-mate, Kooij, to lose his wheel also. Van Aert appeared to make a half-hearted attempt for the line himself but ultimately ran out of steam.
Kooij was then in a bad position up against the advertising boards with Matteo Moschetti (who was later relegated from eighth to 176th for his dangerous sprint) and had nowhere to go so was forced to sit up.
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Meanwhile Groves had clear air to lay down the power we've been waiting to see since he returned from injury this year. 'Its a big relief,' Groves said after the race. 'The team always believes in me and its not been a great start to the season with the injury, I missed a lot of racing and I was arriving here without a win — so getting the first one of the year is a big relief.
'We needed to use some guys early to close the breakaway and they did a super ride, and in the end I still had two team-mates, Plowright and [Edward] Planckaert, who did a super job.'
For Pedersen — who rolled in ten minutes behind — holding on to the Pink Jersey was something of a poisoned chalice. He had to complete the usual leader's press conference as well as attend a special reception with politicians and military representatives before one of the longest transfers of this year's Giro d'Italia, a two hour drive between Naples and Castel di Sangro. There, the race will enter the mountains on the route to Tagliacozzo, where Pedersen is expected to relinquish the jersey as the GC competition truly kicks off.