Description

2016 Giro d’Italia

The 2016 Giro d’Italia was the 99th edition of the Giro d’Italia, one of cycling’s Grand Tour races. The Giro started in Apeldoorn on 6 May with a 9.8 km (6 mi) individual time trial, followed by two other stages in the Netherlands, between Nijmegen and Arnhem. After a rest day, there were 18 further stages to reach the finish on 29 May. These stages were principally in Italy, although two partly occurred in France.

The overall winner was Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali of the Atanan Team, who won his second Giro.

Race Overview

The race began with an individual time trial in Apeldoorn. Fabian Cancellara was the favourite, aiming to become the leader of the Giro for the first time in his career. But a stomach bug left him eighth on the stage, and instead, home rider Tom Dumoulin powered through to win. He had the same time as second-placed Primož Roglič, while Costa Rican rider Andrey Amador came in third, six seconds behind. Ultimately, the Dutchman took honours and collected the first Maglia Rosa of the race. The following two stages in the Netherlands, held between Nijmegen and Arnhem, were both won by Marcel Kittel. Having lost 11 seconds in the opening time trial, the two ten-second time bonuses gave the German the pink jersey after the third stage.

After an early rest day, the race resumed in southern Italy, with a hilly affair. Diego Ulissi took stage honours after attacking on the final third-category climb. Kittel was dropped on the same ascent and, together with Dumoulin’s finish in second place, meant that the Dutchman regained the Maglia Rosa. Stage 5 was flat and won by André Greipel. The sixth stage, however, was seen as an important one – it was the first summit finish of the Giro, in Roccaraso. It was won by Tim Wellens, who joined the successful breakaway partway through the stage. Amongst the GC contenders, Dumoulin gained approximately ten seconds over his rivals and secured himself in the Maglia Rosa. Vincenzo Nibali lost seconds due to bad team tactics from Astana. Greipel took stage 7, Lotto–Soudal’s third consecutive victory.

Stage 8 featured the sterrato (dirt) climb of Alpe di Poti. Gianluca Brambilla took the victory in Arezzo. However, behind him, a battle amongst the general classification favourites commenced. Dumoulin was dropped and lost a minute to the other favourites while Brambilla’s advantage was sufficient to give him the pink jersey, the first Italian to wear it during the 2016 Giro. The next stage, the Chianti Classico Stage, was won by Roglič; his first ever victory in a Grand Tour stage. The stage was held in falling rain, influencing the times of the GC favourites. Bob Jungels moved behind Brambilla, but failed to take the jersey, thanks to a one-second difference. Mikel Landa also moved forward in the general classification despite being expected to lose time. Stage 10 was the second summit finish, in Sestola, and was won by Giulio Ciccone. Landa climbed off after suffering from fever while Brambilla sacrificed his maglia rosa to work for his teammate, Jungels, who proceeded to take the maglia rosa at the day’s end. Stage 11 was relatively flat, but there was a late fourth-category climb where moves were expected to be made. Dumoulin, suffering from saddle sores, departed the Giro at the stage’s feed zone while Amador attacked the favourites with 13 kilometers to go. Maglia rosa wearer, Jungels, tracked his move while Ulissi came back on the descent. The trio worked together to stay away, with Ulissi winning the stage in the sprint while Jungels extended his lead. The next stage was flat, with Greipel winning his third stage in the race. Greipel and some sprinters withdrew from the race after the stage.

The following few stages before the third rest day were expected to be crucial regarding the GC. Mikel Nieve of Team Sky won stage 13 while Jungels was dropped on the final ascent. Amador was also dropped briefly on the climb before returning on the descent, taking the maglia rosa in the process as Jungels lost 50 seconds. Stage 14 was the race’s queen stage, featuring six categorized climbs before the descent to Corvara. Esteban Chaves took the stage honors after outsprinting Steven Kruijswijk, who took the maglia rosa, and Georg Preidler. Nibali lit up the fight for the GC on the final climb to Valparola, attacking with 27 kilometers to go. His attack dropped Amador and Alejandro Valverde, who lost three minutes on the stage. Kruijswijk would attack close to the summit, with Chaves, after dropping Nibali, the only rider to keep up with him.
Nibali lost more than half a minute after the stage. Stage 15 was the third individual time trial of the race, featuring the ascent to Alpe di Siusi. Alexander Foliforov surprised the GC favorites to win the stage, narrowly beating Kruijswijk by around a hundredth of a second. Kruijswijk extended his lead to more than two minutes over second-placed Chaves as Nibali suffered a mechanical on the climb, losing more than two minutes in the process. Stage 16 was a short stage won by Valverde, who outsprinted Kruijswijk on the line. Kruijswijk extended his lead in the general classification to three minutes as Chaves lost 42 seconds while Nibali cracked on the last climb. He lost almost two minutes to drop to fourth overall, nearly five minutes down. Stage 17 was a pan-flat stage, with Roger Kluge of IAM Cycling winning after surprising the remaining sprinters with an attack in the final kilometer. The win happened two days after his team announced its folding at the end of the season.

Stage 18 was another relatively flat stage, which included a late second-category climb to Pramartino and the uncategorized ascent of San Maurizio. Matteo Trentin won from a breakaway while the GC contenders finished around 14 minutes behind. Stage 19 was the first to head into the high mountains, featuring the Cima Coppi, the Colle Dell’Agnello, and the summit finish to Risoul in France. Michele Scarponi took the Cima Coppi while Valverde, Ilnur Zakarin, and Rafał Majka were dropped. On the descent, both Kruijswijk and Zakarin crashed, with Zakarin suffering a broken collarbone and shoulder blade, forcing him to withdraw from the race. The day proved to be a redemption for Nibali as he won the stage after dropping Chaves on the climb to Risoul.
Meanwhile, Kruijswijk crossed the line almost five minutes down on Nibali and more than four minutes behind Chaves. Chaves took the maglia rosa with a 44-second advantage over Nibali as Kruijswijk, later diagnosed with a fractured rib, fell to third overall at a minute and five seconds behind. Stage 20 was the final decisive stage in the general classification, with three first-category climbs on the menu and the steep third-category climb to the finish at Sant’Anna di Vinadio. Nibali attack started 4 km to the summit of Lombarda, and reached the GPM 56 seconds ahead of Chaves. Its progression was irresistible in the last 10 kilometers, reaching the end of the stage at the Sanctuary of Sant’Anna with 1’36″ on Chaves, becoming the new and previous maglia rosa of the Giro d’Italia number 99. Chaves, second, and Valverde completed the podium.

Excerpt from Wikipedia – read the full article here.

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