Giro d'Italia 2025 Stage 6 recap - Kaden Groves wins in Naples after race neutralised following big crash in the peloton

Alpecin-Deceuninck capitalised on the chaos in Naples as Kaden Groves picked up his first win of the season in a sodden Stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia. The day was marred by a big crash that ended the hopes of 2022 champion Jai Hindley and saw the race neutralised and then stopped. Despite the GC times and points being removed from the stage due to the slippery roads, the final sprint went ahead – to Groves’s delight.

Mads Pedersen has just crossed the line in a gruppetto some 10 minutes behind Kaden Groves, but he will not lose any time because all GC times have been neutralised following that earlier crash that saw Jai Hindley, among others, abandon. Jay Vine, who we heard had also abandoned, is still in the race – the Australian has been spotted at the finish.

Visma’s travails should not detract from Kaden Groves’ superb sprint there, with the Australian opening up his account for the season with the second Giro stage win of his career. Alpecin-Deceuninck were the only team with anything remotely resembling a lead-out there, even if Jensen Plowright’s foray off the front was anything but conventional. Even with him out ahead, Edward Planckaert still did a lead-out for Groves, who had enough zip in the legs to seal the deal in Napoli.

Their horrible Giro continues after Kooij was denied by Moschetti there. But the damage was already done when he lost the wheel of his leadout man Wout van Aert, who zipped clear in pursuit of Jensen Plowright. Van Aert snuffed out the danger from Plowright, but had then committed too early. He tried to sprint himself, but he kept on looking over his shoulder for Kooij, and in the end sat up with the finish line gaping. It might have paid off had the Dutchman been able to do his sprint, but he was boxed out and Kaden Groves had the whole road to play with.

Replays sow that Matteo Moschetti veered dramatically off his line to the left of the road to close the door on Olav Kooij, who was forced to sit up rather than be pushed into the barriers. The Italian will be disqualified for that, which will give Olav Kooij a top 10. But the Dutchman could have won that had be not been impeded there.

1. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
2. Milan Frentin (Cofidis)
3. Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step)
4. Max Kanter (XDS Astana)
5. Giovanni Lonardi (Polti VisitMalta)
6. Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling)
7. Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane)
8. Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5 Pro Cycling)
9. Luca Mozzato (Arkea-B&B Hotels)
10. Matevz Govekar (Bahrain Victorious)

It looked like it was going to be Jensen Plowright on his birthday for Alpecin-Deceuninck but he was pegged back by Wout van Aert before the sprint opened up. Poor Olav Kooij found himself boxed in by the barriers by Matteo Moschetti and he had to sit up – allowing Kaden Groves to power clear in the middle of the road and take his first win of the season. What a finish.

One Alpecin rider has opened up a gap on the front as they go through the flamme rouge. Is it Plowright? Visma have Van Aert working for Kooij behind but it could be too late…

Van der Hoorn and Paleni were caught shortly after that fan got in the way, with around 2.5km to go. Now Decathlon take it up for Sam Bennett…

They have five riders on the front for Kaden Groves and it looks like they will reel the two escapees very soon now. And there’s a flashpoint there as a protestor runs onto the road and almost causes chaos before being apprehended by another fan. It’s all happening.

The yellow and grey colours of Visma-Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck are back on the front – and it’s all hands to the pump. The gap is 15 seconds – it’s going to be close.

The rangy Dutchman defied the peloton in the 2021 Giro to win Stage 3 in Canale after a breakaway of 186km – and it looks like he might have a chance to do just that again here in Naples. He and Enzo Paleni are working hard together to give themselves a chance of contesting the win. And it’s under the 5km banner they go with 20 seconds to play with.

The Codifis team of Milan Frentin have now come forward to lead the chase along with Arkea-B&B hotels, who might be eyeing something for Luca Mozzato. But Visma and the other sprint teams have withdrawn for now and that will give the leaders fresh belief that they can go the distance.

Van der Hoorn and Paleni still have 25 seconds and they’re doing an admirable job of holding off the chase from this reduced peloton behind.

We’re now hearing that Jay Vine hasn’t abandoned. It’s a bit of a mystery because the race organisers put the Australian’s name up on screen as one of the withdrawals following that crash, but there’s been no images of the UAE climber getting off his bike or indeed being involved in the accident. So, let’s keep an eye out on that one. It could well be fake news…

This is a big chance for their man Olav Kooij. Visma have been outclassed by Lidl-Trek in this Giro but they can get their race back on track in Naples, where Kooij won last year on the exact same finish. The gap is now 20 seconds.

With Pedersen out of the equation, other teams are now sniffing an opportunity. Polti VisitMalta have sent two men to the front of the pack to help with the chase – perhaps looking to set things up for their fast man Giovanni Lonardi. The gap is still 30 seconds for Paleni and Van der Hoorn.

The pink jersey has sat up and he is currently riding in a large gruppetto that have knocked things off. Big motivation for his rivals who will now be able to contest for a win without the most in-form rider in the pack. With three wins already in this Giro, Pedersen clearly thinks that it’s not worth the risk. And he could well have gone down in that crash because he was certainly held up by it earlier.

That’s big news. We didn’t know that the Australian had been affected by that mass crash. And it’s the second big spill from Vine in this Giro following his fall in the opening stage in Albania. He was pretty active earlier today on the first climb out of the start. That’s a big blow for UAE Team Emirates-XRG and their leaders Juan Ayuso and Adam Yates. Like Primoz Roglic at Red Bull, they are a very important man down.