Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia 2026, Stage 6: Paestum – Naples (Napoli), 142.0k

[Divergence]

The city payed to have the finish there, so they got the finish there, simple as that.
The harsh truth is that a highspeed crash on wide roads usually results in a lot more severy injuries (and is a lot less fun to watch). Still, with a bit of common sense you just place a steep, short hill before such a finish (there are enough of them around Napoli) and you don't have the messy sprint train going into the last corner.

yes, but what about the "sprinters"? You can't have elevation which makes them uncompetitive.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I see the sprinters kissed the ground again today. Or, maybe the race organizers sprinkled in some cobblestones before the finish just to get rid of them.

The first raindrops actually hit the cobbles just a few minutes before they arrived.

 

[Divergence]

The first raindrops actually hit the cobbles just a few minutes before they arrived.

Yes, too bad the sprinters cannot manage risk on their own.

 

[Netserk]

The city payed to have the finish there, so they got the finish there, simple as that.
The harsh truth is that a highspeed crash on wide roads usually results in a lot more severy injuries (and is a lot less fun to watch). Still, with a bit of common sense you just place a steep, short hill before such a finish (there are enough of them around Napoli) and you don't have the messy sprint train going into the last corner.

at the route presentation they had the same finish as previous years

 

[EddyMazzoleni]

Without the crash Magnier would have won with one leg, some Sagan/VdP uphill level sprinting happened there.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

At one level, one of the criteria whereby cycling becomes a skill rather than a power test is cornering and judging the maximum speed of a corner. How near can one get to the speed limit of a corner is the judgement that Ballerini did better that anyone else who had earned themselves a good position, so his win is deserved, not a fluke due to the misfortune of others.

But it is a skill that is best put to the test where the cost of getting it wrong is placement and time, not injury (that is why it is so suited to cyclocross: soft falls onto mud). So not the best choice here.

 

[Tanakka]

I think so. If not similar. In a Colombian podcast yesterday Uran told them that they always crash in Napoli. regardless of anything because of the combination of Pave and turns at the end.

No.
Last year they didn't crash at the finish, and because of "pave and turns at the end". It was because the rain made the road soapy, and the crashes were a long way before the finish.
I posted the 2025 video just a bunch of posts back.
The old finish was different, and was ok.

The city payed to have the finish there, so they got the finish there, simple as that.
The harsh truth is that a highspeed crash on wide roads usually results in a lot more severy injuries (and is a lot less fun to watch). Still, with a bit of common sense you just place a steep, short hill before such a finish (there are enough of them around Napoli) and you don't have the messy sprint train going into the last corner.

The old director - Mauro Vegni - retired in February.
He wasn't perfect but compared to the current guys he's "a Giant".

When they presented the 'Giro 2026' in December, the Naples stage was supposed to arrive in Lungomare Caracciolo just like in the past.
They changed it recently to 'Piazza del Plebiscito'... on cobbles, with a turn on cobbles just 600m before the finish line.

 

[AmRacer]

At one level, one of the criteria whereby cycling becomes a skill rather than a power test is cornering and judging the maximum speed of a corner. How near can one get to the speed limit of a corner is the judgement that Ballerini did better that anyone else who had earned themselves a good position, so his win is deserved, not a fluke due to the misfortune of others.

But it is a skill that is best put to the test where the cost of getting it wrong is placement and time, not injury (that is why it is so suited to cyclocross: soft falls onto mud). So not the best choice here.

Paul did even better, I would say. He just got stuck, which he couldn't foresee

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Ride to the conditions and surface; so rain soaked cobbles means taking care before the hairpin......But some riders are just brain dead, and carry on as normal.........

Easy to blame the organisers, but at some point the riders have to take their own share of blame for riding like retards.

 

[Netserk]

didnt help with the stage podium in the bend

 

[Red Rick]

The first raindrops actually hit the cobbles just a few minutes before they arrived.

Only because nobody thought to race fast enough to get to the finish before the rain.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Ride to the conditions and surface; so rain soaked cobbles means taking care before the hairpin......But some riders are just brain dead, and carry on as normal.........

Easy to blame the organisers, but at some point the riders have to take their own share of blame for riding like retards.

According to Stuyven it was a skill issue (not stopping pedalling while cornering on cobbles).

 

[search]

Yes, too bad the sprinters cannot manage risk on their own.

DS Roger Hammond said "you have to take some risks if you want to win at this level", so although he also calls it "bad luck" that it started to rain just before, in a way, it seems to have been a caluculated one

View: https://youtu.be/UCF6JAp8r_0?t=140

 

[Divergence]

DS Roger Hammond said "you have to take some risks if you want to win at this level", so although he also calls it "bad luck" that it started to rain just before, in a way, it seems to have been a caluculated one

View: https://youtu.be/UCF6JAp8r_0?t=140

For normal road cycling taking risks means attacking on the second to las climb. For the sprinters it means 50% chance to end up in a hospital.

 

[Red Rick]

For normal road cycling taking risks means attacking on the second to las climb. For the sprinters it means 50% chance to end up in a hospital.

Wet uphill cobbles also simply mean the speed of the crash is gonna be very reduced, and wet crashes tend to also limit impact and abrasions

 

[morbido]

Magnier was really impressive. I believe that if he had managed to clip the pedals when restarting he could have won, covering a gap of 10 seconds or more

 

[Brullnux]

According to Stuyven it was a skill issue (not stopping pedalling while cornering on cobbles).

The rain made it a killer. The hill knocked off decent speed and they approached Jr slowly but even then, hard to make sure to you stay up.

That said, by making it semi cyclocross it might prevented crashes over 30km/h. Something to replicate?

 

[RedheadDane]

didnt help with the stage podium in the bend

Huh? I thought they usually have the podium after the finish line.

Niklas Larsen with a brilliant punishment to the idiots stepping out into the peloton:
Put them behind bars for a night, and serve over-boiled pasta!

 

[Netserk]

over-boiled pasta

i actually like overcooked pasta

 

[RedheadDane]

i actually like overcooked pasta

What is wrong with you?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Overcook the guy and feed him raw pasta.