Giro d'Italia 2023 Stage 5 recap: Remco Evenepoel hits the deck twice as Kaden Groves wins chaotic sprint

It was like a bloodbath at the finish as riders arrived in drips and drabs following that series of crashes to pepper the last seven kilometres. You have to feel for Mark Cavendish, who was actually clipped from behind during his sprint - only to have his front wheel taken out by Dainese just moments later once he relaunched his sprint. His back wheel then skidded so violently that his left foot was torn from his cleats and send in an acrobatic arc. Poor Andrea Vendrame was then taken out by Cav and his bike over the line - and he's the aforementioned rider who was receiving attention from medics.

Here's how Kaden Groves picked up a maiden win on the Giro amid all that drama...

After all that, the Norwegian stays in pink. He had a mad chase back on alongside Primoz Roglic after they were both caught up in that crash by Fernando Gaviria 7km from the finish.

Remco Evenepoel, meanwhile, crossed the line quite a few minutes down but will be given the same time because of the 3km rule. The world champion was remonstrating with a bloodied Davide Cimolai (Cofidis) on the home straight so perhaps he blames the Italian for his fall.

1. Kaden Groves
2. Jonathan Milan
3. Mads Pedersen
4. Alberto Dainese
5. Mark Cavendish

That is provisional because it wouldn't surprise me if Dainese is demoted for that risky maneouvre. Filippo Fiorelli (Green Project-Bardiani) came eighth and is currently receiving attention to cuts to his right thigh and hand after he was put into the barriers - quite inadvertently - by Cavendish after his fall.

Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) took third place ahead of Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) - but it was the Italian's sudden change of direction which caused the Cavendish crash: he veered to his left and took out the British champion's front wheel, sending Cav in an acrobatic sprawl. Several others came down in the melee - including David Dekker, and a rider from AG2R Citroen, who looks to be now in a stretcher. Cavendish took fifth place as he rammed into Fiorelli by the barriers then slid across the line. Carnage.

Utter, utter chaos at the finish there - to cap an already utterly chaotic day in southern Italy. Australia's Kadel Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) held off Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) for the win - but Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan) hit the deck a few metres from the line, taking out David Dekker (Arkea-Samsic) with him. Messy and grim - but all smiles from Groves.

So, who's left to contest this sprint? We're about to find out...

It's been a terrible day for the world champion who hits the deck hard. He won't lose any time because it happened just within the last 3km. But that's another setback for Evenepoel.

Big relief all round there - and that was quite a sporting gesture from Ineos and Soudal, who didn't throw down the hammer there. Right, maybe we will see the bunch sprint we expected after all.

That's because Roglic and Leknessund are among the riders caught out. Alpecin and Soudal are driving the pace in the lead group, ditto Bahrain, who have Milan here. And Mark Cavendish is also in this leading group or around 50 riders. Panic stations for Roglic, though - he's the main GC casualty here.

And there's a crash on pretty much the last corner of the stage - just as the peloton was hitting the straight coastal road to the line. Two thirds of the peloton have been caught out by that crash - including the pink jersey! Many sprinters have had their chances taken away as well - including Fernando Gaviria and Pascal Ackermann. Primoz Roglic has had to change bikes with Koen Bouwman, so that's another thing to watch.

None of the favourites are showing their faces yet as they let their team-mates do the donkey work before the home straight. Zoccarato has just 10 seconds now. Will anyone try a kamikaze move from distance? It's unlikely.

Can Mads Pedersen complete his grand slam? Will Jonathan Milan or Michael Matthews double up? Can Kaden Groves improve on his two third-place finishes despite the withdrawl of his lead-out man Sinkeldam? Or will it be one for the pure sprinters like Mark Cavendish, Fernando Gaviria, Pascal Ackermann or David Dekker?

Perhaps none of the above: Samuele Zoccarato hasn't given up - although his lead is now down to 30 seconds.

Laurens de Plus and Filippo Ganna have come to the front to keep Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart out of trouble. Remco Evenepoel's Soudal train have appeared alongside Ineos, with DSM and Bora and Jumbo also there to protect their own GC riders. This is because there's a chance of some crosswinds coming off the coast. Zoccarato's lead is down to 45 seconds.

The Italian lone leader appears to have some issues with his derailleur - but he'll have no time or chance to swap bikes, so he'll have to just make do and press on as it is. He's reached the coast with a gap of 55 seconds to play with.

So, we just have the one rider remaining out ahead - Samuele Zoccarato - who is refusing to kowtow to the peloton. He has one minute to play with as the teams of the sprinters now flock to the front to lead the chase. It's going to be a hectic finale because we're hearing that there's numerous zebra crossings and manhole covers on the home straight - which could prove rather slippery in these wet conditions.

The Italian rider who didn't contest the sprint has put in a counter attack to go clear on the front of the race. And as the TV moto cameraman films his efforts going into a roundabout from behind, the driver of the motorbike comes a cropper and there's a crash. When the peloton comes through less than a minute later, they have to make their way around the motorbike. Let's hope the driver and cameraman are both okay.