After a tough queen stage of the 2017 Giro d’Italia, Team Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin (NED) retained his lead in the overall standings.
Team Sunweb were represented in both of the days breakaways with Chad Haga (USA) and Phil Bauhaus (GER) making the first, and Laurens ten Dam (NED) present in the second eventually dropping back to support Dumoulin. With 30 kilometres to the finish a call to nature caused Tom to pause for a moment, resulting in a significant loss to his overall lead. Despite the difficulties, Tom chased relentlessly to limit his losses and now leads the Giro d’Italia by 31 seconds.
After the stage Dumoulin said: “At that moment I needed to stop to answer natures call. When I was chasing back I decided to fight and not give up and then see where we were at after the finish. It was tough out there on my own and of course it’s dissapointing. The legs were good and I feel like I could have been up there with the other GC group but that’s not how it worked out, it’s too bad.”
Team Sunweb coach Aike Visbeek (NED) added: “Looking at everything apart from Tom’s stop, everything was great. The team were strong, the tactical plan worked and everything was good. Tom was also strong on the climb, fast on the descent and going just as well as the other guys in front. We lost some of the lead but Tom is still in pink, which is the most important thing. Looking ahead we still have a time trial in Milan and over the coming days we have more good opportunities for Tom.”
Vincenzo Nibali Notches First Italian Win For 2017
The stage was won by Italian Vincenzo Nibali. His victory marks the first stage win by an Italian in this year’s race as well as the first Grand Tour stage win for the Bahrain-Merida team.
Nibali attacked with 20 km to go to chase down race leader Mikel Landa before schooling him in the downhill towards the finish in Bormio, where he outsprinted him in a two-up sprint to the line. Quintana also tried to resist to Nibali’s attack, but he was forced to lose time in the descent too, finishing third, 12” behind Nibali.
“Too bad that I couldn’t raise my arms to celebrate at the finish” Nibali said after his victory on stage 16. “I believe It was a spectacular stage for the fans of cycling and my fans too of course. I would like to thank all of them, because they are always supporting me. I worked together well with Landa and I pushed really hard in the descent. It was hard to do the final sprint, but I succeeded to win it and I’m really happy.”
2017 Giro d’Italia – Stage 16 Brief Results:
- Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain) 6:24:22″
- Mikel Landa (Spain / Team Sky) ST
- Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Movistar) +12″
- Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R) +24″
- Ilnur Zakarin (Russia / Katusha) +34″
- Davide Formolo (Italy / Cannondale) +1:26″
- Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek) +1:35″
- Bob Jungels (Luxembourg / Quick-Step)
- Adam Yates (Britain / Orica)
- Thibaut Pinot (France / FDJ)
General Classification After Stage 16:
- Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands / Sunweb) 70:14:48″
- Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Movistar) +31″
- Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain) +1:12″
- Thibaut Pinot (France / FDJ) +2:38″
- Ilnur Zakarin (Russia / Katusha) +2:40″
- Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R) +3:05″
- Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek) +3:49″
- Bob Jungels (Luxembourg / Quick-Step) +4:35″
- Steven Kruijswijk (Netherlands / LottoNL) +6:20″
- Adam Yates (Britain / Orica) +7:00″
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