After the Cervinia, another MTF comes, this time on Pian dei Resinelli.
Kristjan showed off his brand new red jersey, as well as Wiles his beautiful white.
As the stage kicked off a pretty strong breakaway formed, with riders like CAS, Amador, Tiralongo, or the KOM jersey competitor, Rubiano. They opened a gap of 12 minutes quite soon, and looked comfortable on all the climbs.
The break started the last climb with a lead of 5 minutes ahead of the 46-men elite group, who were coming consistently under the lead of Lampre. The climb started pretty slowly for the favourites, and nobody wanted to up the pace. Wiles (-4) was feeling terribly, but he was fighting successfully, as some riders dropped and the group was down to 20.
At the middle of the climb, the escapees still had plenty of a lead, but the pack was closing in quickly, led by the red jersey, Puskaric (+1), who initiated a hard pace in order to drop the others, and gain some time on the favourites. However, he couldn't create a gap, and as we reached the last km, they almost caught the break. The sprint started with Scarponi and Basso creating a little gap, but Puskaric went after them immediately. Wiles also found his climbing legs, and came strong. The break was still upfront.
It's Rubiano, taking the victory at Pian Dei Resinelli! Great victory, outsprinting his breakaway companions. Scarponi and Basso come at 21', while Puskaric finishes at 33'. The next bigger with Wiles, comes in at 45'.
@francopell - Indeed, we're still in position to come back.
Giro d'Italia Stage 16
This time a transfer stage comes, but the end is on a hill, so watch out for the GC riders!
Today's break consisted of 6, with the biggest names being Tiralongo, Rujano Guillen and Sky's british sprinter, Ben Swift. They quickly got a gap of 10 minutes from the pack.
The pack decided to do it slow today, there were absolutely no pace, nobody wanted to chase. Everybody was waiting for the final climb.
The break started the final climb with 8 minutes on the pack, when Rujano attacked. This attack wasn't a successful one though, and later on he got caught by other escapees. They fought through the climb, but it all ended up in a sprint, which was won by...
.... Astana's Paolo Tiralongo! The old italian even outsprinted Ben Swift for the win! What a great achievement! Swift took the 2nd, and Moinard got the 3rd.
Shortly after the finish of the escapees, the pack started the last hill, and numerous attacks came, mainly by Igor Antón. These attacks were quickly neutralized by the SpiderTech duo.
After these hard attacks, nobody else showed weaknesses then the Maglia Rosa, Scarponi, who lost contact with the favourites group, for the first time in the race! Can the other contenders gain time on him!
The answer is no! Despite finishing way before, the jury decided to award Scarponi with the same time as the elite group! The SpiderTech DS went to protest, but it was for no use! However, main news are that Basso got a minute from the elite group, falling back to the 5th in the GC.
A really tough day in the mountains again, but this time with a downhill finish in Cortina D'Ampezzo.
Today a pretty big BotD got together, with big names like Rubiano, Kessiakoff or Garzelli. They found a pretty good rythm, and got a great gap in the first part of the stage.
On the climbs Lampre decided to make it hard for the peloton, and that seemed to be paying off for them, when...
.... Ivan Basso lost contact with the first group at the first 1st category climb of the day, and never came back. Eventually, he finished 15 minutes down the winner, drooping to 18th in the GC.
At the last climb of the day under Cunego's pressure, Wiles was the next one collapsing. However, he didn't give up and fought hard to get back to that group.
The action upfront was all about Puskaric, as he decided to go on his own on the descent. He went like a madman, and created a half minute gap.
And it wasn't over. He caught the break, overtook them, and increased the lead to 45 seconds... And it still wasn't over...
Kristjan takes it home! What a beasty solo ride by the croatian! Now the main question stay: How much did he gain on Scarponi?
Here is the favourite group finishing with the break. The time?
Spoiler
53s
Puskaric is back in the race!
To make this stage even better, Wiles came back to the favourites after a fantastic descend.
However, main news are that Basso got a minute from the elite group, falling back to the 5th in the GC.
