Welcome back to the 2020 Giro d'Italia! Today's stage 16 is one of the hardest that we'll see this year - if stage 19 was not the Queen stage, then it would be this one! More than 4,500m of elevation gain, distributed on almost 50km of ascending roads, await the riders - including the famous Passo del Mortirolo!
But let's start at the start - in Pinzolo. If you were attentive yesterday, you may remember that the final climb up to Madonna di Campiglio started from here. And you know what? It's exactly the same today! The riders will take the same roads as yesterday until they reach the village of Madonna di Campiglio, but instead of continuing their climb to yesterday's finish line, they will turn before and take the pass of Campo Carlo Magno. The top will be reached after 15.3 kilometers - we'll have only ascending roads until then! And unlike yesterday, the climb is "only" rated 2nd category.
After the descent to Dimaro, the road will again start to rise - rather gently until we reach Fucine. From there, the next category 2 climb awaits the riders, up to Passo del Tonale, which marks the highest point of today's stage. It will be reached after 56.1 kilometers.
The next downhill - almost 30 kilometers long - leads the riders down to Edolo, from where they will tackle the climb to Aprica for the first time. Only category 3 rated, it's surely not the hardest one of the day, but a rather irregular one - something certain types of riders don't like at all. They'll be glad to arrive at the finish line after 102.8km - but unfortunately, it isn't over yet. The real fun hasn't even started by then...
After the descent, we'll have today's intermediate sprint in Tirano, after 119.1km. A short hill and a false flat later, the riders will arrive in Mazzo di Valtellina. And then, it's time for some real suffering: The Passo del Mortirolo! More than 10% steep on average, this one will not separate the men from the boys - rather the titans from the men! But even the strongest will be relieved when reaching the mountain top after 141 kilometers! The first on top will be rewarded with 16 KoM points - yes, it's "only" a category 1 climb.
At least, the riders will already exactly know what awaits them after the descent to Edolo - the second ascent of the final climb up to Aprica! We'll have another category 3 KoM sprint at the finish line - and a lot of riders completely empty and happy about having reached this point! Whether all will reach it within the time limit, is a different question... If not, maybe they'll go on a hike in this beautiful area tomorrow, to handle their frustration.
Yesterday, the breakaway took the win once again, after the peloton woke up way too late. But today, there's the Mortirolo - let's see what will happen in the pack on this brutal climb! When it comes down to stage favorites, the bookmakers are still betting on the best climbers to take it: Taaramäe, Kritskiy and Spilak come out on top again. Barguil, yesterday's big loser Reis and Haig are next, followed by Amador, Shikai, Arndt and Schleck, who had an off-day as well yesterday.
Hopefully, all riders have slept - and recovered - well and are ready for today's mountainous adventure! Let's see if Malecki can defend his Maglia Rosa once more - honestly, with the Mortirolo in there, it would take a miracle for him to do so! But we'll see... We won't underestimate him, that's for sure!
The riders are lined up at the exit of Pinzolo, the spring sun shining on their backs - let's tackle a beautiful - and hopefully memorable - day of cycling, as stage 16 of the 2020 Giro d'Italia takes off!
But first, let's take a look at the profile of the initial 15 kilometers. The riders already know most of this climb, with just the final kilometers changing from yesterday's course. About 6% average slopes - that's a good warm-up climb, and will surely invite attackers!
Indeed, it does! Roman capitalizes on his good starting position, in the first row of the pack, and is the first to get clear today! With 48 KoM points on offer, he'll try to at least defend his Maglia Azzurra, or even further extend the lead!
With him are Bernal, Kruijswijk, Girdlestone, Nesset and Talansky! That's a whole lot of firepower - and some of them are well ranked in the GC!
But it isn't over with the high-quality attackers, as we have Karnulin in the next group! Zoidl, Affonso, Gradek and Barthe have joined him.
Then we finally, finally have Brenes on the attack! Right behind him are yesterday's stage winner and runner-up, Anacona and Carapaz, followed by Danacik.
Let's add some more climbers to the breakaway: Ludvigsson is next, pursued by Kennaugh, Kozhatayev and Wirtgen! That makes already 19 riders ahead of the pack - will they let them ride away?
For the moment, yes - and there's even another wave, led by Velits! Costagli, Vervaeke, Campero, McKenna, Bugge, Iturria and Holmes are lined up behind him.
Finally, Evonik - ELKO decide it's not only enough, but too much, and they start chasing! However, the one leading the pack is Naud - not the greatest climber, to be honest. Right behind him are Dillier, Van Winden, O'Shea and Yatsevich - all riders who might be better off saving their energy for later...
Up front, all the small groups of attackers have merged with about 10 kilometers of climbing left. The full headcount of today's Breakaway of the Day is 27 - too much to have a detailed look at everyone. So let's just pick the most interesting ones.
With Anacona, Carapaz and Velits, we have yesterday's podium riders back in the group, and they should be among the best again. However, we know that Brenes with his amazing resistance is very hard to shake off, and with Talansky, we have another very well-rounded, great climber up front.
Iturria took 10th place yesterday from the breakaway, delivering a good performance as well, with Wirtgen, Kennaugh and Kozhatayev finishing inside the Top 20, too. Costagli, who won stage 8, is a strong climber as well - but wasn't able to keep up with the strongest of yesterday's breakaway. Just like Bernal.
Roman will surely try to defend his KoM jersey, while Karnulin and Nesset are attempting to improve their GC position, being their team's leaders (on paper).
However, the best placed rider in the GC is Kruijswijk in 9th position, which makes it a very comfortable situation for Gazelle - who furthermore have three riders up front...
Other riders in the Top 30 of the GC are Kennaugh (13th), Karnulin (15th), Nesset (16th), Brenes (17th), Talansky (20th), Iturria (24th), Bernal (25th; 2nd in the U25 standings), Carapaz (26th) and Wirtgen (30th; 4th in the U25 standings).
We talked about a high-quality group - these GC ranks should be enough of a proof.
And here's the overview of all of today's escapees:
Kozhatayev
Roman
Bugge
Gradek
Karnulin
Vervaeke
Kruijswijk
Anacona
Campero
Affonso
Talansky
Ludvigsson
Nesset
Iturria
Kennaugh
Holmes
Wirtgen
Girdlestone
Bernal
Barthe
McKenna
Danacik
Carapaz
Velits
Costagli
Brenes
Zoidl
Despite the pretty reasonable pace in the peloton, still set by Naud, Vanbilsen is the first rider to be dropped. Major and Boudat are in huge difficulties as well - that's very early! Still a lot of climbing left, and the time limit could become a real danger for them!
Although Naud isn't a strong climber, the pace of the pack isn't slow at all, so the escapees are picking up the pace as well. Brenes leads them as they arrive in Madonna di Campiglio - 4km left to the top of Campo Carlo Magno!
Goss is the first top sprinter who has to let go. Boudat is with him, followed by Van Winden. Kolev, Dillier and Major are further back still - it will be an even harder stage for them than for those in the pack!
But they aren't the last ones to be dropped; O'Shea is already falling behind Boudat and Goss, while Dal Col, Fominykh and Campenaerts are right ahead.
Nizzolo and Meyer then are the next top sprinters to be in difficulties!
Another sprinter is meanwhile leading the pack, as Eislers isn't really one of those in danger of dropping out of the race. He prefers to make the others suffer.
The breakaway's lead has stabilized around 2'30" - which isn't a lot, given all the energy they've already put in!
Carapaz launches his sprint with still 1.2km to go until the top, just after the point where they turned left yesterday.
Roman has been sitting at the rear so far, letting his teammates do the work - and has been caught by surprise by this attack!
Zoidl and Velits are the only ones being able to follow Carapaz - none of them are really close to Roman in the KoM standings, though. Anacona apparently has missed out on this move as well.
Carapaz is simply the strongest on that climb, and takes maximum points at Campo Carlo Magno, ahead of Velits and Zoidl.
The remaining points are heavily disputed, with Talansky having the edge over... McKenna, who is inches ahead of Karnulin.
Carapaz has just moved up to 3rd place, joining Vakoc at 34 points.
Gradek has already been dropped - not unexpected, as he was clearly the worst climber. He'll probably be caught soon.
Eislers leads the peloton over the top 2'32" later, meaning that the pack really had a good pace up this first climb!
More and more riders are dropped towards the top. This trio consists of Sajnok, Clarke and Wohler, whereas we have a group of 12 right behind:
Appollonio
Vendrame
Kosic
Van Zandbeek
Haugard
Meyer
Nizzolo
Yatsevich
Suryadi
Frison
Leung
Wolf
Let's see if any of them can come back on the downhill!
But that's not going to be easy, as the pack is pushing hard on the descent, mainly led by Hsu! The gap is down to 1'48" - they seem to be willing to make a very early catch!
Van Poppel has lost contact going into the descent as well - and he hasn't been able to re-join. Ahead of him is Dewulf, who is dropped on the false flat leading to the foot of the next mountain!
Here's the profile of Passo del Tonale. Slightly steeper than the first one, slightly longer as well - but not very different. Setting a constant pace will be key on this climb - with some flatter roads on top to sprint for the category 2 KoM points!
Iturria leads the breakaway into this second climb. We'll see whether they're still be in just one group when arriving on top!
Meanwhile, Eislers is about to reel in Gradek, with the pack only trailing the leaders by 1'33" now! Will someone try to bridge the gap now?
It's one of these situations that nobody really understands. Evonik - ELKO, with the help of some other teams, have worked extremely hard to keep the gap small - and now that Eislers is done, nobody else wants to continue the work!
So the pack's deficit doubles in no time, being already more than 3 minutes now!
Still, more and more riders are shed by the pack, despite the speed being rather slow. We have:
Gani
Setiawa
Arif Prayogo
Kanter
Gamper
Covi
Hofstetter
Viviani
Zhao
Rajapakshage
Mullen
Hepburn
Kennaugh
Malori
Jungels, Kneisky, Garcia Cortina and heavy worker Naud wave goodbye to the bunch as well. Only 115 riders left in the big group.
The headcount goes further down, as the next sprinters are dropped with Granjel Cabrera and Cullaigh, along with former escapee Gradek, Van der Kooij and Boom.
The breakaway indeed does almost the whole climb in one group - before Velits and Carapaz ride away with 1.2km to the top! Roman is again in last position, hoping that Bugge might catch them!
But of course, he can't. Carapaz makes it two in a row, and now gets pretty close to Roman! Velits takes second, while Wirtgen is somehow in no-man's land, having been unable to close the gap. Still, he takes 3rd on top of Passo del Tonale.
It's a pretty close call for the remaining points again; this time, Karnulin and Nesset have the edge over the rest. Roman never seriously was in contention.
Nobody was dropped from the group this time, so we still have 26 riders up front.
Aregger and Vorobev have to let go with just a bit more than one kilometer of climbing left. Hsu is about to be dropped as well, after having done some good work on the flatter sections.
Fung then leads the pack across the line - 4'08" after the breakaway. The peloton really wasn't fast on that climb, but once the breakaway noticed, they slowed down as well. So the distance between the two groups reamains reasonable - especially with a monster climb still ahead.
107 riders are left, meaning that almost half the riders are either up front or behind.
Mainly Fung, Mano and Sakalou are then setting a horrendous pace on the descent, reducing the gap to 2'28" by this point! On the right side, they see the road descending from the Mortirolo - and only then will the 20km banner actually be accurate.
Passo dell'Aprica is next on the menu - as the riders will start the first out of two ascents shortly! It's definitely a pretty easy climb - once the first kilometer is done! With slopes up to 14%, this could make a difference, especially on the second ascent! For now, we don't expect big gaps - but well, we'll take anything resembling some action!
Girdlestone leads the escapees straigt into this wall, the steepest part of the whole climb. Let's see if the group really stays together, even on this tough part.
Meanwhile, the peloton has further reduced the gap, which is now down to 2'16". Vangstad leads them into the wall - surely not the worst choice to chase on this terrain!
Uh-oh, this doesn't look good at all... Affonso is the first who has to let go - and Roman was just caught behind him on these steep slopes, unable to overtake him in time! It definitely wasn't a good idea to chill around at the rear of that group!
On top of the wall, Sakalou has taken control again. Evonik - ELKO are working very hard today - is Chiarello planning to attack on the Mortirolo already?
The gap has stabilized, still 2'18" after the hardest part of the climb.
Last kilometer of the KoM climb - but no attacks so far! Nobody seems to be interested in taking "only" 6 points on top...
Affonso has meanwhile been caught by the peloton, whereas Roman is trying to catch up again.
We had a very strange situation as well, as Kozhatayev decided to help his teammate - but just when he was back there, he accelerated again and rode away... He's still trailing the front group, though, together with Holmes who has been dropped in the meantime.
Which means that out of four riders initially present up front, Isostar currently only have Bugge left!
And Gazelle - the clear leaders in the team standings - are the only team still having three riders up front - great job!
Fedeli was the last Lierse SK rider left in the peloton - meaning that all are behind now. Let's hope at least one of them makes the time limit...
Nych and Mano are the other ones dropped recently.
Finally, there's still a sprint for the points - and how close is that! Nesset, Karnulin and Kennaugh take the points, but in which order?
Girdlestone, Costagli and Campero have lost contact on the final meters, the latter having even dropped behind the sprinting Kozhatayev already.
Goncalves and Blums lead the pack across the finish line 2'16" later, meaning that the gap hasn't changed on the last few kilometers.
Kozhatayev, Costagli and Girdlestone have re-joined the front group, whereas Campero is trailing by 1'13". Roman and Holmes are 1'33" back - can the Serb capitalize on his great downhill skills and catch up with the leaders on this descent?
Reus and Oliveira are the latest victims of the high pace in the peloton. Fedeli isn't far behind, but the descent isn't his strong side, either...
But that's not all, as Edet, Kukrle and Afewerki haven't been able to follow, either. Hofstede and Gabburo are slightly ahead of this trio, with Coppel some more meters up front.
The sprint points are once again distributed pretty much randomly, with no rider really going for them:
Roman and Holmes have caught up with Campero, as we can see further behind - but they're still more than 1'30" behind the front group and will likely be reeled in soon.
Goncalves is still doing the work in the peloton, which reaches the intermediate sprint in Tirano 2'27" later. Roman, Campero and Holmes are 40" ahead of the pack.
Coppel, Gabburo and Hofstede are back in the main group, which currently counts exactly 100 riders. But probably not for very long...
Pruus has decided to take command, thereby reeling in the trio mentioned before. The deficit to the leaders goes down to about 2 minutes - and 7 kilometers are left before they tackle today's monster climb.
On that little hill just after the intermediate sprint, Gabburo and Coppel are immediately dropped again - along with Daniel, who's even further behind.
Now, let's look at what awaits the riders in a few moments. The Passo del Mortirolo has average gradients of more than 10% - and this on a length of more than 12 kilometers! The maximum sections are around 14.5% steep - a true test for everyone's legs!
Girdlestone is first to tackle this climb, which directly starts with 8%, the steepest sections starting after about 3 kilometers. Let's see if the breakaway breaks up - if they're able to stay ahead at all!
The pack is led into this ascent by Sergis - only 1'48" behind the leaders! If the big guns step into action already on this climb, that gap could be gone within a few minutes!
But before the breakaway, it's the peloton that breaks into pieces! A group of 20 riders is left behind very early into the climb, led by Demare. Munoz, former breakaway member Affonso and Izagirre are the most notable names besides the Maglia Ciclamino.
Now it's Teklehaimanot setting a horrendous pace in the pack, reducing the deficit to 1'12" already! The catch seems to be imminent!
More and more riders are dropped, leaving only 64 peloton members ahead. Sergis, Pruus, Schir, Sakalou, Foss, Koep, Bizkarra or Martin are just a few names - all of them decent climbers and important helpers!
Bugge is the first rider to be dropped from the leading group, and he's back in the peloton in no time!
Barthe and Girdlestone had to let go as well - let's see how long it will take for Brown to collect them as well.
Not very long - and Danacik has joined them, too. Bug as Brown and apparently most other helpers are done, Danacik even has to lead the peloton now!
Of course, the gap is jumping up again - currently it's 1'51".
Up front, we see Ludvigsson and Zoidl being dropped, too, leaving just 16 riders ahead.
Bernal is leading the group, which is down to 15 riders in the meantime. McKenna is the latest victim of the high pace - and it is high, with the lead up to 2'29" now!
Now, that's a really bad surprise for Gazelle, as Karnulin is the next who can't hold on any longer! Iturria had to let go, too, and Costagli doesn't look great, either.
5 kilometers to the top - meaning the steepest slopes are soon done! However, with the length of the climb, the remaining kilometers aren't going to be much easier anyway.
It's been too hard for Vervaeke as well in the meantime, as he's the next to fall off. 12 men left up front:
Carapaz
Anacona
Velits
Talansky
Nesset
Wirtgen
Bernal
Kozhatayev
Kruijswijk
Kennaugh
Brenes
Costagli
Forget that list, it's already outdated, as Kruijswijk has to let go as well! Within just two kilometers, all three Gazelle riders have been dropped!
Of them, Karnulin seems to have a complete breakdown, as he was left behind by all other dropped riders and is already back in the peloton! Hopefully he recovers somehow very soon!
Let's take a look at the current timings:
Carapaz
Anacona
Velits
Talansky
Nesset
Wirtgen
Bernal
Kozhatayev
Kennaugh
Brenes
Costagli
+ 1'13"
Kruijswijk
+ 1'56"
Iturria
Vervaeke
+ 2'49"
Zoidl
+ 3'09"
Ludvigsson
McKenna
+ 3'50"
Peloton (70 riders)
The pack has once again completely stopped the chase! They had come as near as one minute on the first slopes of this climb - and then just stopped! That's inexplicable, but it's surely to the breakaway's advantage! Let's see if the GC favorites give away yet another stage for free - it would be really unbelievable!
And by the way, given the incredibly low pace in the peloton, Malecki of course is holding on without the least problem for now! But there are still 5km of climbing left for the bunch...
We have a split up front! Carapaz, Kennaugh, Velits and Costagli can't keep up any more - which is definitely a negative surprise!
Up front are left: Anacona, Talansky, Nesset, Wirtgen, Bernal, Brenes and Kozhatayev.
Ludvigsson and McKenna have finally be caught by the pack - which is already more than 5 minutes behind the front group now! The leaders again let their completely empty domestiques do the work - they really don't seem to care about stage wins at all! Nor about attacking the Maglia Rosa, as Malecki still comfortably sits in the middle of the group.
1.5km left to the top, as it's Anacona who launches the sprint! All but Brenes are able to follow at the moment - but it's still a long way to go!
Aranburu has finally picked up the pace a little, and some riders at the back are immediately in big troubles! No gaps yet, but they will probably open soon!
All the important GC riders are well positioned so far, we fortunately don't have a Reis case until now!
Anacona just keeps on pushing, and the group breaks into pieces! Only Talansky is able to stay with yesterday's stage winner, who's clearly trying to make it two in a row!
Nesset and Kozhatayev are doing great so far, too, but now had to let go, just like Wirtgen and Bernal. 1km to go for them, a little less for the two leaders!
Talansky has finally passed Anacona, who therefore probably won't be able to catch up with Roman in the KoM standings on top of the Mortirolo! Or can he strike back on the final meters of the climb?
Meanwhile, this group of 28 riders has lost contact with the pack. None of the GC favorites is back here, but important domestiques like Teklehaimanot are!
And we have Budenieks in this group as well, who will very likely lose his 3rd place in the U25 standings now!
Talansky not only overtook Anacona, he even left him behind! And even though the US-American isn't a great downhiller, he's still far better than Anacona - will he wait, or does he try to go solo for the next 33 kilometers?
While Anacona crossed the line with a 36" deficit, Nesset and Kozhatayev are already 1'44" behind! Wirtgen and Bernal follow 15 seconds later - can these four join their forces and catch up again on the relatively flat final climb?
Brenes is yet another minute down, i.e. 2'40". Carapaz and Velits follow 20 seconds later, while the peloton is still nowhere to be seen.
With the Costa Rican crossing the line, we have the full list of KoM points on the Mortirolo:
Anacona would need to be 2nd at the finish line to catch up with Roman, or gain the stage to take the exclusive lead!
Uh-oh, we finally do have one of the strong GC riders losing contact! Faglum Karlsson (10th GC) is in this second group, together with the likes of Laengen and Mager!
Costagli and Kennaugh make it over the top ahead of the pack, trailing Talansky by 4'57". The peloton crosses the line 5'50" down - once again an absolutely unacceptable refusal to work!
But well, if they don't want the stage win - or even the GC win - others will gladly take it... But what a waste of this beautiful climb...
Faglum Karlsson is fighting hard to come back on the downhill - but it looks pretty hopeless. He already trails by 2'25" and must hope to not lose much more time!
Meanwhile, while we don't have live pictures from the peloton, we at least have its composition. 28 riders are left - including 5 from Gazelle!
Malecki
Kruijswijk
Geoghegan Hart
Sosnitskiy
Bibby
Aru
Majka
Salinas
Arndt
Bongiorno
Chiarello
Amador
Valls
Carboni
Ciccone
Shikai
Kirsch
Schleck
Haig
Barguil
Reis
Kritskiy
Spilak
Dyball
Taaramäe
Aranburu
Amezawa
Iturria
Lots of leaders, few helpers - but no attacking leaders so far, unfortunately. Let's see if the few helpers can reduce the deficit on the closing kilometers.
They have already been at this point once - but this time, the 20km arc tells the truth! Anacona is almost one minute behind Talansky after most of the downhill - can he come back on the climb?
We have already seen this climb's profile earlier - hence we know about this wall that Talansky is about to tackle! The gap to Anacona has stabilized on the remaining downhill and the false flat, hovering around one minute. 12.5km of climbing to go from here!
Anacona has just started the final climb as well, 53" later.
Meanwhile, we can see that Kozhatayev and Nesset have extended the gap on Wirtgen and Bernal on the downhill.
Brenes and later Carapaz and Velits are now also in this wall, where they all are lined up and seem to move in slow-motion!
However, there are still some serious gaps between the groups - let's just take a look:
Talansky
+ 59"
Anacona
+ 1'32"
Nesset
Kozhatayev
+ 1'59"
Wirtgen
Bernal
+ 2'53"
Brenes
+ 3'21"
Carapaz
Velits
+ 5'00"
Costagli
Kennaugh
+ 5'30"
Peloton
+ 7'31"
Group Faglum Karlsson (14 riders)
The peloton is finally about to reach the foot of the Passo dell'Aprica as well, led by Dyball. Let's see if someone dares an attack on the steep first part - if they want to gain more than just a few seconds, they have to try it there!
Meanwhile, Talansky has already reached the 10km mark, extending his lead to 1'16". Anacona doesn't seem to have much left - unlike Bernal, who has left his U25 rival Wirtgen behind and has now caught up with Kozhatayev and Nesset!
And that's definitely the end of Kruijswijk's GC dreams, as he has to let go in this 14% section. No attacks up front, but his legs must be really sore after the work in the breakaway - where the pace was often faster than back in the pack.
Carapaz seems to have more left than Velits and leaves the Slovak behind, catching up with Brenes with 10km to go. 1'12" to Wirtgen - can they close that gap?
In the meantime, the pack's deficit has jumped up even more, now being 6'02"! Unbelievable...
And Kruijswijk has already been left behind by group Faglum Karlsson, while Karnulin is even way further behind - what a bad day for Gazelle!
But... wait! They actually still have GC leader Malecki in the peloton, not having lost a single second today until now - so it can't be that bad of a day!
Talansky's bad day was yesterday - and it's already forgotten it seems! 5 kilometers to go - and he has extended his gap to 1'46"! This stage win must be his - if he doesn't suffer a complete collapse!
Anacona wanted to make it two stage wins in a row - well, he has met his match today.
And it might even be hard to hold on to a podium spot, as Kozhatayev, Nesset and Bernal seem to be stronger, as they're quickly closing in. Wirtgen hasn't given up, either, but he still trails by around 30 seconds!
The pack has finally caught Costagli and Kennaugh, as Amezawa and Aranburu have finally decided to still do a little amount of work today. Let's see if they can catch Velits, Carapaz and Brenes, who have regrouped in the meantime and are 1'44" ahead.
Uh-oh, it seems to be game over for Anacona, as the chasing trio has not only caught up with him, but is already leaving him behind! Still 1'46" to Talansky - can they reduce this gap?
In the meantime, Wirtgen seems to have not much left, either, as he already trails by a minute now.
Reis is dropped again! This time, it's together with Amador, the 7th in the GC! Can they come back? It seems like they got caught out when Ciccone, Geoghegan Hart and Salinas couldn't keep up any more - this moment of abstraction could cost them dear!
Just 2.5km to go for Talansky, who still holds on to a 1'45" lead! Nesset, Kozhatayev and Bernal have on their part dropped Anacona, who trails by 28", 2'13" in total.
Wirtgen is 3'03" behind, Carapaz 4'00", Brenes 4'15" and Velits 4'27" - they are really scattered on this mountain road, almost everyone riding on his own!
And the pack? Well, they're still 5'11" back - absolutely no danger coming from them today.
Whew! After some hard shifts, Reis and Amador are back in the pack! They've surely been lucky that no-one has attacked, and Amezawa is still leading despite not having much left.
Further uphill, they can see all those other riders, most of which are really struggling - with a great attack, a good stage result could still be possible!
Well, we surely didn't see that coming, but Anacona has somehow caught up with Bernal, Kozhatayev and Nesset again!
However, this is not because the Colombian has gained that much speed, but rather because the others have lost some! The gap to Talansky has grown to 2'16" - meaning the Generali rider is definitely out of reach now!
And here he is, already under the Fiamma Rossa, with the chasers not yet in sight! What a great show!
Andrew Talansky wins stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia! And although it sounds strange for such a great rider - but it's his first ever GT stage win! He launched his decisive attack within the last kilometer of the Mortirolo climb - and then simply pulled it through! An almost 35km solo - that's winning in style! Congratulations!
While even Wirtgen came closer on the last few kilometers, Bernal has now decided it's time to speed up things again with 1.5km to go! Can he claim another podium spot for the PCT team?
Bernal still leads under the red kite - but the others are still hanging on. Let's see if the Colombian has spent too much energy trying to break free, or if he can hold on!
And Reis is dropped once more! This time, there's no-one with him to help - what's going on with the Portuguese? Is he still suffering from yesterday's day-long chase, or is he just not feeling well? What a shame for such a great rider!
Further up the road, Velits and Brenes are about to be caught, while Carapaz is some seconds further ahead.
Bernal holds on to the lead with 300m to go - but Nesset and Kozhatayev are now clearly faster! Anacona is still waiting - but he should start pushing soon if he wants to get at least a second straight podium!
What an acceleration by Sigurd Nesset! The Norwegian is clearly the strongest of this group and takes 2nd place, ahead of Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev!
Egan Bernal and Winner Anacona have to settle for 4th and 5th, all losing 2'29" on Talansky today!
Further down the road, Spilak has finally decided to move, launching the sprint with 1.3km to go. Bongiorno, Chiarello, Taaramäe, Kirsch, Kritskiy and Barguil are well positioned to respond - let's see if we still get some tiny gaps on the closing meters.
Under the red kite, the group of the favorites finally catch Carapaz, meaning that only Wirtgen remains between them and the finish line!
Spilak is still leading, ahead of Bongiorno, Kirsch and Chiarello, with Taaramäe and Kritskiy seemingly not really interested.
There we can see Wirtgen, just a few meters ahead of the line! Can he make it, or will the raging "peloton" catch him?
Spilak, Bongiorno, Kirsch, Chiarello - that's still the order.
Valls has just been dropped from this group, along with Salinas, Majka, Velits and Brenes.
But... wait. We're missing Aru, right? We get notice that he has lost a lot of ground in no time, as he has already dropped back to group Reis! Majka actually seems to be eBuddy's better guess by now...
Bongiorno is fading on the closing meters, with Kirsch overtaking him and taking Spilak's wheel. Chiarello is still there as well, while Taaramäe, Barguil, Kritskiy, Schleck, Malecki, Shikai and Haig have decided to start their sprint anyway.
Next are Arndt and Sosnitskiy, while Amador is falling behind, together with Carapaz!
Tom Wirtgen finally fends off the pack and takes 6th place on this stage, 3'58" behind the winner. His teammate Kirsch meanwhile seems to be the strongest from the peloton, having left behind Spilak!
Indeed, Alex Kirsch takes 7th, 4'09" behind Talansky. William Chiarello claims 8th, ahead of Simon Spilak and Rein Taaramäe, who complete today's Top 10.
Warren Barguil, Timofey Kritskiy, Francesco Bongiorno, Andy Schleck, Chen Shikai, Kamil Malecki, Jack Haig, Nikias Arndt and Anatoliy Sosnitskiy finish with the same time, taking 11th to 19th.
Andrei Amador, on the other hand, again loses some precious seconds. A deficit of 4'55" means 46 seconds lost to his main rivals - definitely not a good performance.
Reis has again recovered a bit, as he manages to get the same time as group Valls, losing 5'12", and therefore "just" a minute on the GC favorites' group. Brenes, Velits, Salinas and Majka finish with the same time, while Carboni, Ciccone and Bibby, who are right behind him, lose another 20 seconds.
Whatever happened to Aru today - it was nothing good. The Italian only takes 34th place, losing 5'45" - which however is only 33" on teammate Majka. So it may have been a bit early to write him off...
Faglum Karlsson definitely had a huge off-day today. He lost contact on the Mortirolo - and can actually be happy that the strongest climbers didn't push! So he finally "only" loses 8'46", or 4'37" to the group of favorites, which even makes him stay within the Top 15 in the GC.
Which definitely cannot be said of Karnulin, who completely cracked today, losing 33 minutes! With Kruijswijk also 19 minutes behind the winner, Gazelle lost two of their well-placed GC riders on one stage - maybe this still wasn't the smartest move...
And as we write this, Dillier only just arrives on top of the Mortirolo. There are only 35 minutes left to make the time limit - no way.
The final rider to actually make the time limit is Goss - with 19 seconds to spare! Whew, that was close!
Which means that we have to say goodbye to the following 9 riders:
Dal Col
Campenaerts
Major
Boudat
Kolev
O'Shea
Vanbilsen
Van Winden
Dillier
Dillier actually misses the time limit by almost half an hour, while Dal Col and Campenaerts just had a few meters left when the time turned red.
Finally, this means that Kennaugh loses his main leadout, whereas the other riders didn't really have a big importance any more. Still, we're sorry to see them go, but that's the rules.
But now, let's no longer talk about those behind - rather about the ones on top!
And by "on top", we first of all mean today's stage winner Andrew Talansky! What a bummer for him yesterday, when he lost contact early and dropped down to 20th in the GC - and what a reaction today! He left them all behind on the Mortirolo, and finally waited for them only at the finish line! A great solo win - and the first one for home team Generali in this Giro!
2nd place goes to Sigurd Nesset, who had an amazing day today, holding on to all those great climbers - and finally outsprinting those who stayed with him! Finally, the first podium spot for Grieg-Maersk in this race - well done!
Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev was the leader of his team - but struggled to live up to his role until today. But with his third place - the 6th podium spot for Isostar - Specialized (most of all teams), he has shown everyone that he has it in him - let's see what we'll see of him on the final days!
And a fun fact: Today we had the 10th breakaway win - out of 14 non-TT stages!
Who would have thought this?!? To be honest, I didn't. But here he is - Kamil Malecki still holds on to the Maglia Rosa! And even better news: he didn't lose a single second of his lead today! He clearly benefitted from the fact that the top climbers didn't attack on the Mortirolo nor on the final climb up to Aprica - but he definitely won't complain!
And with only three mountain stages left - thereof one that really shouldn't be very hard - I'm sure he starts dreaming about the big, big upset... Already a Top 10 would be huge for him - but could it be even more? It depends on how the top climbers will ride the remaining mountain stages; we saw today how even good riders like Karnulin can lose half an hour - but Malecki definitely didn't show a single sign of weakness today! Stunning job!
Which of course means that Rein Taaramäe is still trailing by 3'02", Timofey Kritskiy by 3'30".
There hasn't been a lot of movement in the Top 10 today - but we still had Kruijswijk and Faglum Karlsson drop out, down to 32nd respectively 15th. And Amador lost one spot due to his time loss on the final kilometer.
Instead, Spilak has finally joined the Top 10, along with Nesset. Talansky has moved up to 11th - giving again two options to Generali! Let's see how that works out...
Let's lose some words about the U25 standings. Honestly, we thought that this would be the only jersey left to Kamil Malecki tonight - but he proved us otherwise. Of course, he leads here as well, although Egan Bernal and Tom Wirtgen, the new 3rd placed rider, have gained some time. They trail by 15'50" and 18'40" respectively - still a huge lead for the young Pole! Is it enough to win the Maglia Bianca?
Unlike other sprinters, Arnaud Demare never was in danger of missing out on the time limit. He didn't win any points, either - as expected - hence still totalling 161 points. Rein Taaramäe didn't win a lot of them with his 10th place, either, making him still trail by 52 points. Mathieu van der Poel is still 3rd, 62 points back.
With a win tomorrow, Demare could more or less secure the jersey - Taaramäe would then need to win all remaining stages, which is highly unlikely. But we'll see - if Demare should have a bad day, other sprinters could come dangerously close tomorrow.
Aleksandar Roman definitely didn't have his best climbing legs today. Nonetheless, no other rider was capable of overtaking him in the KoM standings, so he defends the Maglia Azzurra one more time - and pretty likely tomorrow as well!
Winner Anacona collected some points today, but he still trails by 4 points, having a total score of 48. Four more points behind, we find Richard Antonio Carapaz, who had a strong start to the stage by collecting 20/20 on the first climbs, but then not a single additional point.
Still, with three more mountain stages left, the race for this jersey is wide open!
Yes, Gazelle did suffer today, with Kruijswijk and Karnulin dropping out of GC contention. But they still did a great job, being beaten only by Generali and EA Vesuvio - and not even by three minutes!
Hence, the Dutch team still leads, now 14'01" ahead of their compatriots from Aegon - Peroni. Grieg-Maersk are still 3rd, but 23'22" down now! With this huge margin, they could really have a shot, despite not having the greatest mountain team!
Well, what to think about that stage... Of course, it was a great one for Talansky, who got redemption after his off-day on stage 15. But overall, it was a lame stage, and especially a pure waste of the Mortirolo climb. Someone like Malecki should have absolutely no chance to stay with the peloton on such a stage - but he still did. We're hoping for more action on stages 19 and 20 - else, we'll have a sensational Giro winner!
But tomorrow, the climbers can take a day off and let the sprinters do their job - if the breakaway doesn't take it once more. But with no sprinter dropping out today, there should still be enough teams willing to work - check it out tomorrow!
Giro d'Italia 
