Ballerini wins Giro stage 6 after final-corner crash

Davide Ballerini of XDS Astana won stage six of the Giro d'Italia on Thursday, capitalizing on a crash in the final corner to claim his first Grand Tour stage victory in Naples. The Italian rider stayed upright amid the chaos on the slippery cobbled U-turn 300 meters from the line, powering ahead to beat Jasper Stuyven of Soudal Quick-Step by a few bike lengths, with Stuyven's teammate Paul Magnier taking third.

The 142-kilometer mostly flat stage from Paestum to Naples unfolded cautiously after the wet and cold conditions of stage five. Riders departed under mixed skies near Paestum's ancient Greek temples, facing a pan-flat coastal route interrupted only by the category-four climb at Cava de Tirreni. A five-rider breakaway formed early, featuring Edward Planckaert and Luca Vergallito of Alpecin-Deceuninck, Manuele Tarozzi and Martin Marcellusi of Bardiani CSF, and Mattia Bais of Polti-Kometa. Mattia Bais claimed the climb's points, but sprinters' teams including Unibet, Lidl-Trek and Soudal kept the gap under a minute, absorbing the group with 35 kilometers remaining.

Tension built in the technical finale, where the route twisted into Naples' seafront before a cobbled run to...