'Huge mess' or just bike racing? Jonathan Milan criticism of Giro d'Italia Stage 6 finish sparks debate

Milan was lining up to take part in the sprint finish on the cobbled streets of Naples, only to find himself caught up in a multi-rider crash as rain fell and the peloton attempted to negotiate a tight bend. 

Davide Ballerini won the stage for XDS Astana, after managing to miss the carnage. 

But while Milan said not having the chance to sprint for a stage win in the Giro was ”painful,” it was the style of the finish that earned his wrath. 

”Luckily I didn’t crash, I was able to stay on my bike but so many completely crashed in front of me," Milan said on TNT Sports. "I mean, it is not their fault - we know that it will be super slippery if it would rain on these kind of cobbles.

”I really don’t get why we have to find these complicated finishes, I really don’t get it. 

”For sure we could think it could rain and we need to be safe, some years ago it could go to a straight but no, with two drops of water, we had a huge mess. 

”I am just disappointed as I was in a good position, in good shape, I’m feeling good, but they try to look for these things for a bit of hype sometimes. I really don’t get it.”

The finish featured a U-shaped bend 400m from the line, along what were very slippery cobbles heading to the Piazza del Plebiscito.

Dylan Groenewegen and his lead-out man went down first for Unibet Rose Rockets, with Milan and many favourites held up behind. 

”[While] it is painful [to miss the sprint], it is even more painful to see riders crashing in front of me,” Milan concluded. 

But Adam Blythe and Matt Stephens were slightly mixed when discussing the finish on The Breakaway - citing that the race organisers could not have predicted rain in southern Italy in May when they designed the route many months ago. 

”It is a difficult one, I feel for Jonny. I understand his point of view and it is completely valid. It did rain, it doesn’t rain down there that often,” explained Blythe.

”But we are in the entertainment industry, bike racing is entertainment and that finish, with the uphill in the dry would have been entertaining. You can’t blame the organisers for wanting a bit of drama. I’m sure none of them wanted a crash but it is part of bike racing. 

”You can’t just pick motorways and straight roads to race on just because it might be raining in a year’s time… If he stays upright, he wouldn’t be complaining then.”

”[Milan’s] chances of winning a stage in this race are ebbing away. But I do admire that he said it calmly. There is some validity in 'yes, why do we need to hype up a finish like this?'” added Stephens.

”I do understand, it is a beautiful city, but time and time again we have finished in the same place, so we need to be creative with finishes. Credit to the organisers for [trying] a bit of the Classics thrown in.

”But there will always be an element of danger in the wet finish anywhere, and it is bike racing. I don’t think we can criticise the race organisers too much, as it was a wide finish. It was only the weather that was really going to change things.”

Afonso Eulalio remains in pink for Bahrain Victorious heading into Friday's Stage 7, the longest of this year's Giro.

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