Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites
Nicolas Roche (Team DSM) and Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) were on the attack early on the shortened stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia today. But by the time the action drew to a close the day had been dominated by one man; race leader Egan Bernal.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider was part of the select group that was whittled right down on the final climb before he attacked from that group and rode clear on the upper slopes of that last ascent, the Passo Giau.
The stage was shortened from 212km to 153km and the two cat 1 high altitude climbs - Passo Fedaia and Passo Pordoi – were lost as a result. A combination of cold temperatures and threatened snow forced the route changes on safety grounds.
Roche and Martin moved clear in a 24-rider group in the early phase of the stage, up the 11.6km climb of La Crosetta. However, when that group split in two and the leading section went on to become the stage-long breakaway, neither Irish rider was present in that front group.
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However, the breakaway got smaller through the stage and by the time they were deep onto the final climb - the 9.9km Passo Giau which began 28km from the finish - the remains of the breakaway had just under two minutes on the select group.
Still in the breakaway at that point were: João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates), Vincenzo Nibali (Trek Segafredo), Gorka Izagirre (Astana Premier Tech), Antonio Pedrero (Movistar) and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Trek-Segafredo).
Behind the breakaway men, Simon Carr (EF Education Nippo) set a blistering pace up the final climb in the select group in an effort to set up Hugh Carthy.
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But the moment Carr’s work was done on the front of the group on the climb, it was Bernal who attacked. After forging clear alone, he caught the remains of the early breakaway ahead. He then descended into Cortina d'Ampezzo to take a brilliant win; defiantly punching the air to announce he was back and he was on top.
Bernal went alone with more than 4km to go to the top of the final climb and he won very impressively, with the gaps opening to those behind. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) were 2nd and 3rd and they were just 27 seconds back. But after them the time gains made by Bernal were much more significant.
Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) and Hugh Carthy (EF
Education-Nippo) were 4th and 5th at 1:18, in the company of João Almeida, the
Deceuninck-QuickStep who had been in the breakaway.
Then came Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) in 7th at 2:11. He was followed by a three-man group at 2:31, containing two breakaway men - Gorka Izagirre (Astana-Premier Tech) and Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) – as well as Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma).
British rider Simon Yates (BikeExchange) was the biggest
casualty of the day, placing 11th and losing 2:36. He also lost any
hope that he could come good in the third week and take on Egan Bernal.
While Dan Martin had joined the early attacking and wasn’t
seen for the rest of the stage – mainly due to the weather-interrupted TV
coverage – he rode well through the day.
The Israel Start-Up Nation rider was 16th on the stage, some 7:10 down on Bernal. Roche was 105th at 32:25, though with his team leader Bardet up the road and 2nd on the stage, Team DSM had a solid ride today.
Aside from Yates, another big loser was Remco Evenepoel. The Deceuninck-QuickStep rider was distanced from the select group more than 30km from the finish and before the final climb had even started. He ended the day 58th on the stage, 24:05 down on Bernal.
The stage result leaves Bernal at the top of the overall
standings, with Caruso now in 2nd place some 2:24 down on the Colombian. Hugh Carthy (EF Education Nippo) has moved up two places
to 3rd overall, at 3:40. Dan Martin remains 12th but is now 15:10 down and is
five minutes off the top 10.
Almeida is now the holder of that final place in the top 10 and his team mate Evenepoel, who he has had to repeatedly wait for, is now 19th some 28:07 down overall.
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