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Wednesday, May 22, 2024

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2023 Tour de France | 2023 Giro d'Italia

Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success. - C. S. Lewis

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Current racing:

• May 4 - 26: Giro d'Italia

Upcoming racing:

• May 23 - 26: Tour of Norway
• May 26: Rund um Köln

Latest completed racing:

• May 14 - 19: 4 Days of Dunkirk
• May 18: Veenendaal - Veenendaal Classic
• May 11: Tour du Finistère
• May 5: Tro-Bro Léon
• May 4: GP du Morbihan
• May 1: Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt
• April 21 - 28: Tour of Turkey
• April 23 - 28: Tour de Romandie
• April 26 - 28: Vuelta Asturias
• April 21: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
• April 15 - 19: Tour of the Alps
• April 17: La Flèche Wallone

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Giro d'Italia stage 16 reports

We posted the report from the race organizers and Geraint Thomas's Team INEOS Grenadiers with the results.

Here's the report from Julian Alaphilippe's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Julian Alaphilippe braved the tough weather conditions and dazzled again while leaving his mark for the umpteenth time on a Giro d’Italia stage, one that had to be shortened due to the snow, wet roads and low temperatures which forced the organisers to take out the Umbrail Pass and come up with a different start location, in Lasa, instead of Livigno.

When the race got underway a couple of hours later, attacks came in waves, but the first moves were easily reeled in. It was only with 90 kilometers to go that a breakaway formed, when Alaphilippe went clear on the roads of the Sud Tyrol region together with three other riders, including Mirco Maestri (Polti Kometa), the Italian with whom he was on the attack also last week, when he soloed to a memorable victory.

Julian Alaphilippe alone and off the front. RCS photo

The horrible conditions accompanied the quartet as they headed to Bolzano – the setting of Sandor Marai’s 1940 novel “Casanova in Bolzano” – but the four did a great job and this helped their gap go out to two minutes, despite some fierce chasing from behind. Julian attacked away from his fellow escapees on the 23.3km-long Passo Pinei, in a moment the advantage was down to a minute, but the two-time World Champion somehow managed to add 40 seconds to his buffer, thanks to an incredible effort despite the temperatures continuing to drop.

The embodiment of grinta and panache, Alaphilippe summited the top of the climb with a 20-second gap on a three-man chasing group which eventually linked up with him on the last ascent of the day, Monte Pana. Staying true to his nature, Julian gritted his teeth and took some generous turns at the front before finally dropping back with two kilometers to go. The remaining riders were eventually caught by race leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), who went on to take the win, while Jan Hirt arrived less than a minute later and maintained his place in the general classification top ten.

Alaphilippe finished 29th. Sirotti photo

“It was a crazy day, with the route change because of the weather, and the full gas tempo from the start all the way to the finish. The weather didn’t make it easy, but Specialized’s rain tyres have lots of grip on these conditions. I rode on my instinct and I can be happy with the way I gave my best. It was cold today, but I had my Castelli clothing to keep me warm and dry, which helped me stay at the front so deep into the stage. Towards the end I was tired, but I kept pushing and believing in my chances. I have no regrets as I really enjoyed the stage. The shape is good, the atmosphere is great in the team and the confidence is there, so we will keep trying again in the bext stages”, said Julian, who also took to the podium to receive the day’s Intergiro award.

Here's the report from Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

The four remaining Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders safely completed the sixteenth stage of the Giro d'Italia. Before the start, much deliberation was needed to come to the right decision to shorten the stage. Tadej Pogacar eventually won the mountain stage.

In freezing temperatures and incessant rain and sleet, the peloton gathered in Livigno for the start of stage sixteen. After teams and riders had already expressed doubts about descending the Umbrail pass in these weather conditions earlier, and much deliberation at the start, it was decided to start the race only after that descent. In the car, the peloton made the move from Livigno to new starting place Spondigna.

The shortened stage gets started. RCS photo

Sports director Marc Reef is disappointed that taking that decision took so long. "It was a very hectic morning. There was a lot of consternation and it is unfortunate that taking the right decision took so long. It disrupted the whole preparation of the riders. As far as we were concerned, the right solution was to start the race at this location, but that decision could have been made much earlier. The race itself ended up being a day for the general classification riders. We are happy that all four guys made it to the finish line in one piece."

On one of the two remaining climbs in the course, Jan Tratnik briefly tried to slip into a breakaway and Attila Valter held on for a long time. The Hungarian eventually crossed the line in 21st place. Valter: "To be honest, there was still something in my legs. The conditions were tough. I probably could have gone a little deeper at the end, but I recognized that it was of little use because the head of the race was out of the picture. I better save that energy for the next few days."

And here's the Giro report from Romain Bardet's Team dsm-firmenich PostNL:

An amended route saw the peloton leave from Laas, for a 118 kilometre long stage 16 that ended with almost 25 kilometres of climbing up to Santa Cristina Valgardena. It was a fast start to proceedings on the mostly flat or downhill opening part of the stage, as multiple teams and riders looked to make the day’s breakaway. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL were active in trying to make the break, with Kevin Vermaerke following and making several moves that were ultimately brought back.

Eventually a four rider move went clear and a steady pace was set in the peloton, with some teams setting out their stall that they wanted to fight for the stage win from the bunch. The team looked after GC finisher Romain Bardet, with the guys riding well as a unit as they progressed along the flat roads to the climbs in the finale. The gap to those held steady at around one minute and 30 seconds for a while, before a big increase in tempo saw that cut down dramatically. Bardet had a bad moment on the climb as the pace went up, but he was brilliantly supported by Vermaerke and Gijs Leemreize. They initially lost almost 50 seconds on the maglia rosa group but a committed chase over the next 13 kilometres and some exceptional teamwork saw Bardet return to the back of the group, just as they made the turn onto the steepest section of the final climb in the closing two kilometres.

From there, Bardet just battled as much as he could on the steep slopes, fighting all the way to the finish and even passing riders who were in the maglia rosa group. In the end, Bardet limited the losses to one minute and 19 seconds to stage winner Pogacar, but much less to those around him on GC; as the team maintain seventh in the overall standings after the stage.

Romain Bardet finishes 19th. Sirotti photo

After the finish Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Matt Winston expressed: “It was a really fast day of racing with the flatter start. We looked for the break but then it became clear that some teams wanted to keep it close for a GC day. The guys bubbled up well in the bunch as we headed to the climbs in the finale. Unfortunately, Romain had a bad moment on the Passo Pinei but the guys rallied around him really well. They showed some great teamwork, kept calm, and brought him back just before the steep part of the last climb. From there, Romain just pushed all the way to finish to limit the losses, which he did well in comparison to some of the other guys around him on GC.”

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