Another finishing crash has disfigured the Giro d'Italia as Jensen Plowright managed to sidestep the chaos to earn the best finish yet by an Australian rider in the crash-hit 2026 edition.
After another crash on the final slippery bend of the cobbled finish in Naples took out the big sprint favourites in Thursday's sixth stage, Italian Davide Ballerini took advantage to race away and hold off Belgium's Jasper Stuyven for his first Giro triumph.
Behind the top two, Alpecin Premier Tech understudy Plowright, who's taken his team's sprint reins following the first-day crash which eventually forced Australia's main stage-winning hope Kaden Groves to abandon the race, finished fourth, pipped for the podium by French points jersey leader Paul Magnier.