Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia 2023, Stage 6: Napoli – Napoli 162 km

[Izzyeviel]

What exactly was lacking today?

An exciting race & finish

 

[Devil's Elbow]

An exciting race & finish

If you weren't entertained in any way by this finish then maybe this isn't the sport for you.

 

[Jagartrott]

@TourdeBerghem: Yes, it was up to Clarke to keep on riding. Even if he does have to do the leadout in the last km, he will win 9/10. His decision to play it 'smart' actually meant his chance of winning decreased *a lot*. So, actually quite dumb.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Giro. The Sprinter's grand tour. I wonder if we will actually see any GC action in the first half.

Plenty of GC action. Remco crashed 2 times and Roglic crashed 3 times i think, Thomas also had a mechanical

 

[movingtarget]

He's very vanilla, just quite bland and he looks ugly in the bike. He always robs more interesting riders of victories and in the last 2 years he only won in boring ways (worlds and gent wevelgem were good) . And yeah I also don't like these hard men sprinters who can climb, it's annoying to me watching stages where trek or someone similar is drilling the pace so you know the electric sprinters won't get back and the break won't make it. Just makes races a slow wind to an inevitable finish. I don't have any animosity to him as a person but as a rider he is like unseasoned overcooked rice

So not a fan then ?

 

[laarsland]

He's very vanilla, just quite bland and he looks ugly in the bike. He always robs more interesting riders of victories and in the last 2 years he only won in boring ways (worlds and gent wevelgem were good) . And yeah I also don't like these hard men sprinters who can climb, it's annoying to me watching stages where trek or someone similar is drilling the pace so you know the electric sprinters won't get back and the break won't make it. Just makes races a slow wind to an inevitable finish. I don't have any animosity to him as a person but as a rider he is like unseasoned overcooked rice

Yeah - vanilla ride in The Ronde this year

 

[Izzyeviel]

Top 108 already up, what is happening??

They didn't have to spend time fiddling the rules to help out Remco....

(ducks)

 

[Ilmaestro99]

An exciting race & finish

I think it was an exciting race to the finish with the wrong outcome. It was definitely a good final for a flat stage

 

[Eyeballs Out]

On RAI De Marchi said in the last kms tried to keep some energies for the sprint..but he think also it was the good decision because was the only way to beat faster Clarke

I think he should have been more confident. At the end of a stage like that it's about strength more than speed. They were a bit unlucky. More often than not there would be at least one crash behind and then they would have been beyond reach

 

[tobydawq]

He's very vanilla, just quite bland and he looks ugly in the bike. He always robs more interesting riders of victories and in the last 2 years he only won in boring ways (worlds and gent wevelgem were good) . And yeah I also don't like these hard men sprinters who can climb, it's annoying to me watching stages where trek or someone similar is drilling the pace so you know the electric sprinters won't get back and the break won't make it. Just makes races a slow wind to an inevitable finish. I don't have any animosity to him as a person but as a rider he is like unseasoned overcooked rice

Yes, he's the second coming of Simon Gerrans...

 

[RedheadDane]

He's very vanilla, just quite bland and he looks ugly in the bike.

Mads Pedersen bland? Are we talking about the same guy?

 

[Gratemans]

It may not have been a legendary GT stage but really enjoyed watching today, spectacular scenery and entertaining ending.

When they announced "the most beautiful stage in the world" I thought it was just Italians being Italian (i.e. overly dramatic).
I was wrong.
Some jaw dropping scenery indeed !

 

[yaco]

@TourdeBerghem: Yes, it was up to Clarke to keep on riding. Even if he does have to do the leadout in the last km, he will win 9/10. His decision to play it 'smart' actually meant his chance of winning decreased *a lot*. So, actually quite dumb.

Clarke was never going to continue as he has ridden this way his whole career - You only have to look at the final of the Australian National Championship in 2023.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

But it wasn't.

Good job by the organisation then

 

[yaco]

DeMarche has been on a good level all season, however he's fallen foul of the greedy riders who want to win nearly every stage in a stage race.

 

[tobydawq]

Good job by the organisation then

It was quite a slow circuit. Of course there were some sketchy sections but I think it's a bit annoying to always have to hear stuff like this, especially when it's hypotheticals.

When a race finishes in a big, historic city, it will likely be technical, and every finish can be dangerous in rain.

The piece of road furniture where G's chain came off should have been covered or signalled better but otherwise I don't think there were problems.

 

[tobydawq]

Mads Pedersen bland? Are we talking about the same guy?

He has no idea what he is talking about.

 

[topcat]

Maybe De Marchi should have pulled at the end, but I still want to applaud him for not handing the victory to Clarke (although they might have been caught anyway).

Strong spritn from Pedersen, who had to close the gap to Gaviria himself, but still managed to keep Milan behind him.

Surely you mean Pederson

 

[staubsauger]

Finally Pedersen has his stage win. Gaviria getting his comeback victory in Naples would've been nice too.

Each time so far, another sprinter wins!

 

[skippo12]

DeMarche has been on a good level all season, however he's fallen foul of the greedy riders who want to win nearly every stage in a stage race.

According to his interview him not taking turns in the last 900m was about winning. He knew that Clarke would beat him in a sprint and decided to gamble on Clarke blowing his energy to stay ahead of the sprinters.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

He has no idea what he is talking about.

OK Toby on this one occasion I can concede that i know less about a Danish than 2 Danish people. So maybe Pederson is a bit of a charismatic maverick and I just haven't seen it yet. But as a rider he doesn't make me want to attack my local climbs and descents like Landa, Alaphilippe, Nibali, masnada, Sagan or people like that. And he was a pro for 8 years and had only 1 (dull) haircut. And after Yorkshie I know he won a lot , very good rider, but I can't remember any of those victory, its like he hits the front and my mind just blanks

 

[RedheadDane]

Surely you mean Pederson

Do not attempt to Swedify Danes!

And he was a pro for 8 years and had only 1 (dull) haircut.

Aah, yes; haircut! That's the important bit.

 

[Gargamel35]

How bad was Roglič crash today, if it even was a crash? No camera saw it?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

It was quite a slow circuit. Of course there were some sketchy sections but I think it's a bit annoying to always have to hear stuff like this, especially when it's hypotheticals.

When a race finishes in a big, historic city, it will likely be technical, and every finish can be dangerous in rain.

The piece of road furniture where G's chain came off should have been covered or signalled better but otherwise I don't think there were problems.

There also was this round "island" in the middle of the road a few hundreds of meters closer to the finish. I can't imagine somthing like that not getting a signalling guy if it were a race in Flanders or the Tour. It not raining is not an excuse to not have foreseen the possibility of it raining and causing carnage.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Yes, he's the second coming of Simon Gerrans...

Come on, just look at his ride in the RVV and compare that to the amount of wheelsucking that Gerrans had to do to be competitive in the classics. You can't compare him to that guy.