Tuesday, May 23: Stage 16, Sabbio Chiese - Monte Bondone, 203 km
Joao Almeida beats Geraint Thomas to the line. RCS photo
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Weather at the city of Aldeno, on the route, at the foot of the climb to finish at Monte Bondone at 2:10 PM, local time: 24C (74F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the south at 11 km/hr (7 mph). There is a 60% chance of rain.
The race: There were three non-starters: Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech), Amanuel Ghebreigzabier (Trek-Segafredo) & Davide Ballerini (Soudal Quick-Step). Pavel Sivakov (INEOS Grenadiers) abandoned part way into the stage.
Here's the report from GC leader Geraint Thomas' Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Geraint Thomas put in a superb attacking performance to reclaim the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia, finishing a close second on stage 16.
The Welshman pushed clear of a select GC group with 4.5 kilometres to go, riding across to Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and opening out a gap to rival Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).
Thomas and Almeida were able to combine forces on the run-in, but in the final metres the Portuguese rider was able to narrowly edge out the victory.
The result sees Thomas return to the top of the GC, now leading by 18 seconds over Almeida, and 29 seconds ahead of Roglic who finished third on the stage.
Thymen Arensman and Laurens De Plus came home in the top 10 on the stage and remain ninth and 10th overall respectively.
Earlier on the duo of Ben Swift and Salvatore Puccio rode well in the day's break, giving the team a key tactical card to play.
Sadly the stage also saw Pavel Sivakov abandon the race, with the Grenadier still struggling following a crash earlier in the Giro.
A beautiful place for a bike race.
Geraint Thomas:
"It would have been nice to win the stage. It was one of those where we had to keep riding. I didn’t want to play cat and mouse with Joao with Roglic behind. We worked well together. I led it out and unfortunately he got the jump on me and won the sprint. It’s nice to be back in pink and to gain some time. Obviously it’s not great to lose a team-mate.
"[Almeida] was always one of the biggest rivals coming here. He’s shown how strong he is and his team as well – so no surprise."
Matteo Tosatto:
"G came back into the pink jersey. I’m super happy for him, but disappointed as I think winning the stage would have been great after many second positions. But in the end it’s a good day for us. The team was super strong. Today was the first big test, now it’s super important to recover and focus for the next mountain stage.
"Pavel after the crash with Tao has not recovered. This morning and during the rest day he was suffering a lot. For us it’s one less rider but I have five riders who are super strong. I have confidence in them and what’s important now is recovery.
"G is strong and this was a perfect climb for him. The last two mountain stages are harder and now it’s important to recover and stay calm."
Complete results:
203 kilometers raced at an average speed of 34.460 km/hr
1 | Joao Almeida | UAE Team Emirates | 5hr 53min 27sec |
2 | Geraint Thomas | INEOS Grenadiers | s.t. |
3 | Primoz Roglic | Jumbo-Visma | @ 25sec |
4 | Edward Dunbar | Jayco-AlUla | s.t. |
5 | Sepp Kuss | Jumbo-Visma | 1:03 |
6 | Ilan Van Wilder | Soudal Quick-Step | 1:16 |
7 | Damiano Caruso | Bahrain Victorious | s.t. |
8 | Einer Rubio | Movistar | s.t. |
9 | Laurens De Plus | INEOS Grenadiers | s.t. |
10 | Thymen Arensman | INEOS Grenadiers | s.t. |
11 | Lennard Kämna | BORA-hansgrohe | 1:20 |
12 | Hugh Carthy | EF Education-EasyPost | 1:26 |
13 | Santiago Buitrago | Bahrain Victorious | 2:01 |
14 | Andreas Leknessund | Team DSM | 2:42 |
15 | Filippo Zana | Jayco-AlUla | 3:18 |
16 | Thibaut Pinot | Groupama-FDJ | 3:27 |
17 | Jack Haig | Bahrain Victorious | 4:15 |
18 | Patrick Konrad | BORA-hansgrohe | 4:24 |
19 | Bruno Armirail | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
20 | Vadim Pronskiy | Astana Qazaqstan | s.t. |
21 | Diego Ulissi | UAE Team Emirates | 6:07 |
22 | Aurélien Paret-Peintre | Ag2r-Citroën | 6:34 |
23 | Lorenzo Fortunato | EOLO-Kometa | 6:48 |
24 | Warren Barguil | Arkéa-Samsic | 8:05 |
25 | Luis León Sánchez | Astana Qazaqstan | s.t. |
26 | Laurens Huys | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | s.t. |
27 | Nicolas Prodhomme | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
28 | Carlos Verona | Movistar | 8:07 |
29 | Jonathan Lastra | Cofidis | 8:46 |
30 | Ben Swift | INEOS Grenadiers | 10:47 |
31 | Davide Formolo | UAE Team Emirates | 10:54 |
32 | Alex Baudin | Ag2r-Citroën | 12:06 |
33 | Koen Bouwman | Jumbo-Visma | 12:30 |
34 | Jay Vine | UAE Team Emirates | 13:00 |
35 | Brandon McNulty | UAE Team Emirates | 13:17 |
36 | Alessandro De Marchi | Jayco-AlUla | 13:26 |
37 | Edoardo Zambanini | Bahrain Victorious | s.t. |
38 | Derek Gee | Israel-Premier Tech | 13:35 |
39 | Simone Velasco | Astana Qazaqstan | 13:40 |
40 | Rohan Dennis | Jumbo-Visma | 13:49 |
41 | Ben Healy | EF Education-EasyPost | 14:43 |
42 | François Bidard | Cofidis | 15:58 |
43 | Lawrence Warbasse | Ag2r-Citroën | 17:04 |
44 | Bauke Mollema | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
45 | Bob Jungels | BORA-hansgrohe | s.t. |
46 | Sam Oomen | Jumbo-Visma | 19:30 |
47 | Michel Hessman | Jumbo-Visma | s.t. |
48 | Alessandro Tonelli | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | s.t. |
49 | Alberto Bettiol | EF Education-EasyPost | s.t. |
50 | Rudy Molard | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
51 | Valentin Paret-Peintre | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
52 | Toms Skujins | Trek-Segafredo | 24:01 |
53 | Pieter Serry | Soudal Quick-Step | s.t. |
54 | Michael Hepburn | Jayco-AlUla | s.t. |
55 | Salvatore Puccio | INEOS Grenadiers | s.t. |
56 | Cesare Benedetti | BORA-hansgrohe | 24:42 |
57 | Nico Denz | BORA-hansgrohe | s.t. |
58 | William Barta | Movistar | s.t. |
59 | Anton Palzer | BORA-hansgrohe | 24:55 |
60 | Cristian Scaroni | Astana Qazaqstan | 24:57 |
61 | Michael Matthews | Jayco-AlUla | 26:06 |
62 | Francesco Gavazzi | EOLO-Kometa | 28:12 |
63 | Lorenzo Rota | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | s.t. |
64 | Davide Bais | EOLO-Kometa | 29:14 |
65 | Davide Gabburo | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 29:15 |
66 | Mattia Bais | EOLO-Kometa | 30:06 |
67 | Alexandre Delettre | Cofidis | 30:53 |
68 | Maxime Bouet | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
69 | Otto Vergaerde | Trek-Segafredo | 31:24 |
70 | Henok Mulubrhan | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 32:21 |
71 | Ryan Gibbons | UAE Team Emirates | s.t. |
72 | Matthew Riccitello | Israel-Premier Tech | s.t. |
73 | Marco Frigo | Israel-Premier Tech | 33:28 |
74 | Alexander Konychev | Corratec-Selle Italia | 33:50 |
75 | Thomas Champion | Cofidis | 36:06 |
76 | Pascal Ackermann | UAE Team Emirates | 36:11 |
77 | Lukas Pöstlberger | Jayco-AlUla | 37:24 |
78 | Kristian Sbaragli | Alpecin-Deceuninck | s.t. |
79 | Marius Mayrhofer | Team DSM | s.t. |
80 | Senne Leysen | Alpecin-Deceuninck | 37:39 |
81 | Thomas Gloag | Jumbo-Visma | s.t. |
82 | Stephen Williams | Israel-Premier Tech | s.t. |
83 | Campbell Stewart | Jayco-AlUla | s.t. |
84 | Mirco Maestri | EOLO-Kometa | s.t. |
85 | Diego Sevilla | EOLO-Kometa | s.t. |
86 | Sebastian Berwick | Israel-Premier Tech | s.t. |
87 | Alexander Cepeda | EF Education-EasyPost | s.t. |
88 | Luca Covili | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | s.t. |
89 | Jonas Iversby Hvideberg | Team DSM | s.t. |
90 | Stefano Oldani | Alpecin-Deceuninck | 37:46 |
91 | Vincenzo Albanese | EOLO-Kometa | s.t. |
92 | Magnus Cort | EF Education-EasyPost | 38:04 |
93 | Jake Stewart | Groupama-FDJ | 38:11 |
94 | Edoardo Affini | Jumbo-Visma | 38:58 |
95 | Alexander Krieger | Alpecin-Deceuninck | s.t. |
96 | Martin Marcellusi | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 39:29 |
97 | Filippo Magli | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | s.t. |
98 | Laurenz Rex | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | 42:44 |
99 | Jonathan Milan | Bahrain Victorious | s.t. |
100 | Michel Ries | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
101 | Andrea Pasqualon | Bahrain Victorious | s.t. |
102 | Yukiya Arashiro | Bahrain Victorious | s.t. |
103 | Alan Riou | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
104 | Veljko Stojnic | Corratec-Selle Italia | s.t. |
105 | Thibault Guernalec | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
106 | Ignatas Konovalovas | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
107 | Daan Hoole | Trek-Segafredo | 43:55 |
108 | Alex Kirsch | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
109 | Niccolo Bonifazio | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | 44:29 |
110 | Niklas Märkl | Team DSM | 44:54 |
111 | Hugo Toumire | Cofidis | s.t. |
112 | Max Kanter | Movistar | 46:55 |
113 | José Joaquin Rojas | Movistar | s.t. |
114 | Arne Marit | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | s.t. |
115 | Fabian Lienhard | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
116 | Karel Vacek | Corratec-Selle Italia | s.t. |
117 | Jasha Sütterlin | Bahrain Victorious | 47:29 |
118 | Filippo Fiorelli | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 47:47 |
119 | Alessandro Iacchi | Corratec-Selle Italia | s.t. |
120 | Joe Dombrowski | Astana Qazaqstan | 48:20 |
121 | Gianni Moscon | Astana Qazaqstan | s.t. |
122 | Mark Cavendish | Astana Qazaqstan | s.t. |
123 | Alberto Dainese | Team DSM | s.t. |
124 | Charlie Quarterman | Corratec-Selle Italia | 48:35 |
125 | Nicolas Dalla Valle | Corratec-Selle Italia | 51:25 |
126 | Simone Consonni | Cofidis | s.t. |
127 | Fernando Gaviria | Movistar | s.t. |
128 | Albert Torres | Movistar | s.t. |
GC after stage 16:
2,668.2 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 39.504 km/hr
1 | Geraint Thomas | INEOS Grenadiers | 67hr 32min 35sec |
2 | Joao Almeida | UAE Team Emirates | @ 18sec |
3 | Primoz Roglic | Jumbo-Visma | 0:29 |
4 | Damiano Caruso | Bahrain Victorious | 2:50 |
5 | Edward Dunbar | Jayco-AlUla | 3:03 |
6 | Lennard Kämna | BORA-hansgrohe | 3:20 |
7 | Bruno Armirail | Groupama-FDJ | 3:22 |
8 | Andreas Leknessund | Team DSM | 3:30 |
9 | Thymen Arensman | INEOS Grenadiers | 4:09 |
10 | Laurens De Plus | INEOS Grenadiers | 4:32 |
11 | Hugh Carthy | EF Education-EasyPost | 4:50 |
12 | Einer Rubio | Movistar | 5:43 |
13 | Thibaut Pinot | Groupama-FDJ | 6:48 |
14 | Santiago Buitrago | Bahrain Victorious | 7:21 |
15 | Ilan Van Wilder | Soudal Quick-Step | 7:46 |
16 | Aurélien Paret-Peintre | Ag2r-Citroën | 10:02 |
17 | Sepp Kuss | Jumbo-Visma | 10:54 |
18 | Jack Haig | Bahrain Victorious | 10:58 |
19 | Patrick Konrad | BORA-hansgrohe | 12:28 |
20 | Warren Barguil | Arkéa-Samsic | 19:13 |
21 | Simone Velasco | Astana Qazaqstan | 23:10 |
22 | Lorenzo Fortunato | EOLO-Kometa | 24:08 |
23 | Luis León Sánchez | Astana Qazaqstan | 26:18 |
24 | Laurens Huys | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | 28:36 |
25 | Nicolas Prodhomme | Ag2r-Citroën | 31:00 |
26 | Filippo Zana | Jayco-AlUla | 31:29 |
27 | Jonathan Lastra | Cofidis | 31:56 |
28 | Diego Ulissi | UAE Team Emirates | 33:44 |
29 | Koen Bouwman | Jumbo-Visma | 36:52 |
30 | Derek Gee | Israel-Premier Tech | 39:04 |
31 | Valentin Paret-Peintre | Ag2r-Citroën | 43:16 |
32 | Toms Skujins | Trek-Segafredo | 44:23 |
33 | Davide Formolo | UAE Team Emirates | 46:24 |
34 | Alexander Cepeda | EF Education-EasyPost | 50:36 |
35 | Alessandro De Marchi | Jayco-AlUla | 52:10 |
36 | Michel Hessman | Jumbo-Visma | 53:25 |
37 | Alessandro Tonelli | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 56:30 |
38 | Brandon McNulty | UAE Team Emirates | 58:05 |
39 | Luca Covili | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 1:01:30 |
40 | Jay Vine | UAE Team Emirates | 1:02:13 |
41 | Bauke Mollema | Trek-Segafredo | 1:04:33 |
42 | William Barta | Movistar | 1:05:10 |
43 | Marco Frigo | Israel-Premier Tech | 1:05:37 |
44 | Sam Oomen | Jumbo-Visma | 1:05:49 |
45 | Lorenzo Rota | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | 1:11:25 |
46 | Bob Jungels | BORA-hansgrohe | 1:13:59 |
47 | Rohan Dennis | Jumbo-Visma | 1:16:10 |
48 | Alberto Bettiol | EF Education-EasyPost | 1:16:33 |
49 | Ben Healy | EF Education-EasyPost | 1:17:02 |
50 | Edoardo Zambanini | Bahrain Victorious | 1:18:59 |
51 | Nico Denz | BORA-hansgrohe | 1:19:33 |
52 | François Bidard | Cofidis | 1:24:56 |
53 | Lawrence Warbasse | Ag2r-Citroën | 1:28:29 |
54 | Anton Palzer | BORA-hansgrohe | 1:28:55 |
55 | Mattia Bais | EOLO-Kometa | 1:31:06 |
56 | Stefano Oldani | Alpecin-Deceuninck | 1:31:29 |
57 | Carlos Verona | Movistar | 1:32:50 |
58 | Andrea Pasqualon | Bahrain Victorious | 1:36:30 |
59 | Ben Swift | INEOS Grenadiers | 1:42:18 |
60 | Vadim Pronskiy | Astana Qazaqstan | 1:42:24 |
61 | Cristian Scaroni | Astana Qazaqstan | 1:43:13 |
62 | Pieter Serry | Soudal Quick-Step | 1:51:03 |
63 | Jasha Sütterlin | Bahrain Victorious | 1:59:52 |
64 | Vincenzo Albanese | EOLO-Kometa | 2:01:10 |
65 | Thomas Champion | Cofidis | 2:02:09 |
66 | Michael Matthews | Jayco-AlUla | 2:05:25 |
67 | Sebastian Berwick | Israel-Premier Tech | 2:05:27 |
68 | Francesco Gavazzi | EOLO-Kometa | 2:07:29 |
69 | Matthew Riccitello | Israel-Premier Tech | 2:08:50 |
70 | Rudy Molard | Groupama-FDJ | 2:08:53 |
71 | Marius Mayrhofer | Team DSM | 2:09:28 |
72 | Joe Dombrowski | Astana Qazaqstan | 2:09:59 |
73 | Magnus Cort | EF Education-EasyPost | 2:11:08 |
74 | Ryan Gibbons | UAE Team Emirates | 2:11:53 |
75 | Davide Gabburo | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 2:12:54 |
76 | Salvatore Puccio | INEOS Grenadiers | 2:13:59 |
77 | Mirco Maestri | EOLO-Kometa | 2:19:02 |
78 | Davide Bais | EOLO-Kometa | 2:21:22 |
79 | Thomas Gloag | Jumbo-Visma | 2:21:27 |
80 | Alex Baudin | Ag2r-Citroën | 2:24:59 |
81 | Hugo Toumire | Cofidis | 2:29:32 |
82 | Maxime Bouet | Arkéa-Samsic | 2:32:32 |
83 | Pascal Ackermann | UAE Team Emirates | 2:36:43 |
84 | José Joaquin Rojas | Movistar | 2:39:21 |
85 | Laurenz Rex | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | 2:41:23 |
86 | Michel Ries | Arkéa-Samsic | 2:42:40 |
87 | Henok Mulubrhan | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 2:43:14 |
88 | Alexandre Delettre | Cofidis | 2:44:47 |
89 | Edoardo Affini | Jumbo-Visma | 2:47:14 |
90 | Kristian Sbaragli | Alpecin-Deceuninck | 2:47:45 |
91 | Lukas Pöstlberger | Jayco-AlUla | 2:49:01 |
92 | Senne Leysen | Alpecin-Deceuninck | 2:49:52 |
93 | Michael Hepburn | Jayco-AlUla | 2:53:02 |
94 | Jake Stewart | Groupama-FDJ | 2:55:14 |
95 | Karel Vacek | Corratec-Selle Italia | 2:56:19 |
96 | Diego Sevilla | EOLO-Kometa | 2:58:11 |
97 | Thibault Guernalec | Arkéa-Samsic | 2:58:50 |
98 | Martin Marcellusi | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 2:59:26 |
99 | Stephen Williams | Israel-Premier Tech | 3:01:22 |
100 | Jonathan Milan | Bahrain Victorious | 3:02:45 |
101 | Niklas Märkl | Team DSM | 3:04:23 |
102 | Cesare Benedetti | BORA-hansgrohe | 3:07:30 |
103 | Niccolo Bonifazio | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | 3:08:09 |
104 | Alex Kirsch | Trek-Segafredo | 3:08:30 |
105 | Alexander Konychev | Corratec-Selle Italia | 3:14:57 |
106 | Otto Vergaerde | Trek-Segafredo | 3:17:44 |
107 | Veljko Stojnic | Corratec-Selle Italia | 3:17:56 |
108 | Filippo Magli | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 3:20:35 |
109 | Max Kanter | Movistar | 3:23:18 |
110 | Gianni Moscon | Astana Qazaqstan | 3:24:02 |
111 | Simone Consonni | Cofidis | 3:25:04 |
112 | Ignatas Konovalovas | Groupama-FDJ | 3:28:10 |
113 | Jonas Iversby Hvideberg | Team DSM | 3:28:41 |
114 | Fernando Gaviria | Movistar | 3:33:54 |
115 | Charlie Quarterman | Corratec-Selle Italia | 3:35:27 |
116 | Arne Marit | Intermarché-Circus-Wanty | 3:38:13 |
117 | Fabian Lienhard | Groupama-FDJ | 3:39:30 |
118 | Filippo Fiorelli | Green Project-Bardiani-CSF | 3:39:43 |
119 | Mark Cavendish | Astana Qazaqstan | 3:40:30 |
120 | Daan Hoole | Trek-Segafredo | 3:44:25 |
121 | Alan Riou | Arkéa-Samsic | 3:45:23 |
122 | Albert Torres | Movistar | 3:46:56 |
123 | Alexander Krieger | Alpecin-Deceuninck | 3:47:25 |
124 | Campbell Stewart | Jayco-AlUla | 3:48:41 |
125 | Yukiya Arashiro | Bahrain Victorious | 3:50:44 |
126 | Alessandro Iacchi | Corratec-Selle Italia | 3:51:14 |
127 | Alberto Dainese | Team DSM | 3:53:08 |
128 | Nicolas Dalla Valle | Corratec-Selle Italia | 3:55:36 |
Stage 16 map & profile:
Stage 16 map
Stage 16 profile
Stage 16 photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:
GC leader Bruno Amirail descends the Passo Bordala. That's his teammate Thibaut Pinot on his wheel.
Ben Swift
Joao Almeida wins the stage. It would appear to this old cynic that the usual courtesey was observed. The rider in a break who would take over the GC lead allowed the other rider to win the stage.
Primoz Roglic finished third with Edward Dunbar right on his wheel.
Fifth place Sepp Kuss
Ilan Van Wilder (left) and Damiano Caruso (right) lead in their group at 1min 16sec
Andreas Leknessund was 14th.
Derek Gee finishes 38th.
Stage winner Joao Almeida enjoys his victory
Geraint Thomas will ride stage 17 in pink.