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Wednesday, May 28, 2025

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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. - Henry David Thoreau

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Current racing:

• May 9 - June 1: Giro d'Italia

Upcoming racing:

• May 29 - June 1: Tour of Norway
• June 8: Brussels Cycling Classic
• June 8 - 15: Critérium du Dauphiné

Latest completed racing:

• May 14 - 18: 4 Jours de Dunkerque
• May 18: Rund um Köln
• May 13: Classique Dunkerque
• May 11: Tro-Bro Léon
• May 10: GP du Morbihan
• May 9: Tour du Finistère
• April 27 - May 4: Tour of Turkey
• April 29 - May 4: Tour de Romandie
• May 1: Rund um den Finanzplaz Eschborn-Frankfurt
• April 27: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
• April 24 - 27: Vuelta Asturias

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Giro d'Italia stage 16 team reports

We posted the report from GC second-place Simon Yates' Team Visma | Lease a Bike with the results.

Here's the report from stage winner Christain Scaroni's Team XDS Astana:

Stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia, which opened the final week of the Italian Grand Tour, ended in a double triumph for XDS Astana Team: Christian Scaroni claimed the stage win, while the King of the Mountains leader, Lorenzo Fortunato, finished second.

Lorenzo Fortunato & Christain Scaroni have left the best of the rest far behind. Sirotti photo

The stage, ending in San Valentino, was the first truly mountainous stage of this year’s Giro – over a 203 km course, the riders tackled four major climbs, including an 18-km summit finish.

Three XDS Astana Team riders – Lorenzo Fortunato, Christian Scaroni, and Fausto Masnada – made it into the breakaway after attacking on the day’s first climb, the Carbonare. On the way to the finish, Fortunato won all the mountain primes, significantly strengthening his lead in the King of the Mountains classification. On the final climb, attacks from first Scaroni and then Fortunato proved decisive – the two XDS Astana Team riders dropped all their rivals and finished together, securing a brilliant one-two victory.

“I’m still trying to realize that we won today! It was an amazing day for the whole team. We worked perfectly from the start, got into the breakaway at the right time, and did a lot of work at the front to help Lorenzo (Fortunato) score maximum points for the mountain classification. It was a really tough stage – long climbs don’t suit me much – but together with my teammates we executed the perfect strategy. On the final climb, Lorenzo and I attacked at the right moment and ended up alone. I want to thank Lorenzo especially for this stage and this victory. We won it together! I dedicate this win to the whole XDS Astana Team, my family, and my girlfriend”, – said Christian Scaroni.

Here's the Giro report from GC fourth-place Derek Gee's Team Israel-Premier Tech:

Derek Gee delivered an incredible performance on stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia, finishing fifth after a grueling day in the mountains, which saw him climb to fourth place in the general classification.

“I’m really happy. This was the first really big test, so I’m glad the legs came through,” an exhausted Gee said after the finish, struggling to catch his breath.

With more than 5000 meters of elevation and several hard climbs to overcome, the entire IPT team rallied around Gee to support him in the best possible way. Therefore, the team paid no interest in the early breakaways today. Instead, all focus was directed at the 27-year-old Canadian, who paid back his IPT teammates with a stellar ride on the final climb, dropping the majority of his GC rivals, including race leader Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates).

Derek Gee time trialing in stage two. Sirotti photo

In fact, among the GC contenders, only Richard Carapaz (EF Education – EasyPost) managed to open a small gap on Gee in the final kilometers.

“I couldn’t follow Carapaz’s acceleration, so I just tried to ride my own pace to the top of the climb. I’m really happy with where I ended up, but there’s still a long way to go.”

IPT sports director Sam Bewley explained: “Everyone has been saying for months that the final week of the Giro would be decisive. It was important to be patient and bide our time. We had some bad luck in the early part of the race, but ultimately it’s Derek’s legs that have put him in this position. There are still big mountain stages to come, so hopefully, things continue in this direction.”

Here's the Giro report from Josef Cerny's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

The third week of the race got underway with miserable weather conditions, just what the riders didn’t want at the start of a 200km stage comprising four classified climbs – Carbonare, Candriai, Santa Barbara and Passo di San Valentino – and almost 5000 vertical meters.

None of these could stop Josef Cerny from launching one of the stage’s first attacks and booking a place in what looked to be a promising six-man breakaway, which swelled to a massive 26 riders by the time they hit the slopes of the first ascent. The nagging rain continued to accompany the leading group, where the multiple Czech ITT Champion continued to put in a solid effort, helping the escapees take their advantage to a comfortable nine minutes.

Josef Cerny after winning the prologue of the 2023 Tour de Romandie. Sirotti photo

His time at the front of the race came to an end only on the penultimate climb of the day, where the many attacks that came on a steep part of the road shattered the group and left only a handful of riders up the road. From there, Christiano Scaroni (XDS-Astana) took the victory, around one minute ahead of the first general classification men. In the overall standings, Soudal Quick-Step’s James Knox gained two positions and is now 19th with five stages to go.

“It was a hard start, made more difficult by the weather, but I did my best to be in the break. I left everything out there, even though the parcours didn’t really suit me, and after getting dropped on the penultimate climb I used the last energy I still had to help James as much as possible. It was a really tough day of racing, but I am content with the effort I put in”, Josef said after the stage.

Here's the report from Egan Bernal's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Egan Bernal showed his grit and determination to keep coming back on a brutal day in the mountains on stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia.

The Colombian rider finished in 11th place and move up to sixth overall to keep the GC hopes alive after a fantastic comeback on the final climb of the day on the summit of San Valentino.

Egan Bernal winning stage three of the 2020 Route du-Sud.

It was a rain soaked start to the 203km stage, with Thymen Arensman caught behind a small crash before Josh Tarling pushed on in a break with six others. Having established a solid gap, Tarling unfortunately crashed and had to abandon the race.

Kim Heiduk managed to make the 23-man break early on, gaining an eight minute advantage over the peloton at the halfway point.

Up the second climb of the day, the Candriai, Ben Turner and Jonathan Castroviejo hit the front and did a huge turn for the Grenadiers. With 70km to go, Bernal suffered a fall, but was quick to get back on as the weather began to clear, before the peloton hit the penultimate climb, the Santa Barbara.

As UAE Team Emirates - XRG put the hammer down on the front of the peloton, Arensman was hampered by his earlier crash and dropped off the pace.

Bernal looked to also be going backwards, before bridging back to the GC favourites group. Up the final mountain of the day, the Passo di San Valentino, breaks formed all over the climb, with eventual winner Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana Team) going clear with teammate Lorenzo Fortunato.

Bernal stayed focused on following wheels and battling the brutal slopes, overtaking the maglia rosa Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) on the closing stages to finish 11th, and move up to sixth on the GC.

Arensman came home 24th and still continues to be in the top 15 on the GC.

Egan Bernal:
“It was a hard day. I suffered a crash and it was quite difficult to get the good feeling back afterwards. I was already getting dropped in the second-to-last climb, and thinking I was going to lose a lot of time. I kept fighting and believing in myself, and managed to bridge back with the rest of the favourites. All things considered, we can say I came away alright from the day - yet it’s also true that I lost some time to several GC riders.

“The GC has changed quite a lot in just one mountain stage, and there are still three left. We are climbing the Mortirolo tomorrow, for instance. But I will keep fighting. Even if I am a bit cracked up, my plan is to attack and try my luck. If I haven’t given up in five years, I won’t give up in one day.”

Thymen Arensman :
“A rider went into the back of me and I landed on my knee and the whole stage I was in pain.

“I was running on adrenaline and I fought to the finish and tried to stay close and help Egan, but in the end I couldn’t fight through the pain. It is what it is, that’s racing.”

And here's the stage 16 report from Team Groupama-FDJ:

The tone is set for the final week of the Giro d’Italia. After the rest day, the peloton experienced a monstrous sixteenth stage up to the climb of San Valentino on Tuesday. Although Lorenzo Germani and David Gaudu managed to slip into the breakaway to anticipate the fight among the favourites, they couldn’t challenge for the stage victory in the final hour of racing. The Italian ultimately finished in 31st. Wednesday’s stage will feature the Passo del Mortirolo.

David Gaudu at the 2024 Giro dell'Emilia. Sirotti photo

It was to be hoped that the Giro riders had made the most of the rest day, as an impressive stage was about to kick off the third week of the event on Tuesday. On paper, it was even the second most difficult stage in terms of elevation gain, with around 4,750 metres of climbing recorded over a little over 200 kilometres. In addition to the four recorded climbs, another difficulty appeared at the start; some heavy rain indeed followed the peloton during the first sixty kilometres, where the fight for the breakaway was once again very furious.

Lorenzo Germani initially managed to go clear with five other riders after around fifteen kilometres. The gap gradually rose to thirty seconds, then to one minute, while his teammates tried to cover the countless counterattacks that occurred in the peloton. “We want to be at the front to anticipate and give ourselves a chance to go far and be active in the race,” explained Thierry Bricaud. “Everyone entered the fight at the start, everyone was up there to follow the moves. Lorenzo broke away in his small group, then after an hour and a half of racing, David joined a counterattack. It was a good situation for us.”

As the race approached the Carbonare climb, just as everything seemed to be settling down, a chasing group therefore managed to go clear, and David Gaudu was one of the eighteen riders in there. The two groups got together on the day’s first climb, and the peloton then allowed the breakaway to take a large gap, which went up to nine minutes. The leading group crossed the second climb as a whole, then headed for the penultimate climb, up to San Barbara, where David Gaudu was unable to keep his place in front.

“I think I’m paying the price for my lack of preparation,” explained the Frenchman. “After 3.5 to 4 hours of racing, I start to struggle and I’m not physically strong enough to keep going. That’s how it is, but I’m going to use these last few days to prepare for the Tour. We’ll keep trying; I have nothing to lose anyway, and I want to be active!” “Every day, it’s getting a little better, but we’re not there yet,” added Thierry. “When you’re in front, it’s obviously to go for the win, but as soon as you realize that you don’t have the legs, you inevitably let go a bit. He tried again, like two days ago, and he’ll try again. The goal is for him to enjoy riding his bike again and gradually get some good feelings back”.

Lorenzo Germani followed the strongest riders of the breakaway for a bit longer, before being forced to let them go as well. The Italian was finally caught on the final climb by the group of favorites and reached the finish line in thirty-first place. “Lorenzo rode a very good stage, even if the profile didn’t really suit him,” Thierry said. “He’s not a pure climber, and the penultimate climb was really steep. If he keeps this mindset, he’ll have an opportunity by the end of the Giro. What’s certain is that he’s going very well. The stars need to align, but the guys’ spirit today was still the right one.”

On Wednesday, the peloton will climb the Passo del Tonale and then the Passo del Mortirolo before thirty kilometres less demanding. “It’s not an easy stage, but it gives a lot of riders the chance to fight for the stage win,” concluded Thierry. “We’ll have to see if the breakaway can go all the way, or if the GC situation will give ideas to some riders and teams, but I think we’re in for another crazy stage.”

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