Key Takeaways: Giro d'Italia Stage 16
Breaking down how a tough mountain stage finally set the GC battle in motion
João Almeida finally bagged the first grand tour stage win of his career and positioned himself as a serious contender for the overall victory at this Giro d’Italia when he sprinted clear of Geraint Thomas to win a difficult mountain stage atop the climb of Monte Bondone. The duo, who surged clear of an elite front group of GC contenders with just under 5 kilometers remaining, finished 25 seconds ahead of Primož Roglič and Eddie Dunbar. While this margin to the leaders was a massive victory for Dunbar, who is in the midst of a breakout GC ride, it was a borderline disaster for Roglič, who lost valuable time to the two strongest GC riders in the race after being shaken loose on the same type of terrain that three out of the next four stages serve up.
Stage Top Five:
1) João Almeida (UAE) +0
2) Geraint Thomas (Ineos) +0
3) Primož Roglič (Jumbo) +25
4) Eddie Dunbar (Jayco)+25
5) Sepp Kuss (Jumbo) +1’03
Stage GC Time Gaps (with time bonuses):
João Almeida +0
Geraint Thomas +4
Primož Roglič +31
Eddie Dunbar +35
Damiano Caruso +1’26
Current GC Top Five:
1) Geraint Thomas (Ineos) +0
2) João Almeida (UAE) +18
3) Primož Roglič (Jumbo) +29
4) Damiano Caruso (Bahrain) +2’50
5) Eddie Dunbar (Jayco) +3’03
Stage 16 Race Notebook
58km: With a large and relatively dangerous breakaway, with outsider GC contenders like Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Jack Haig, up the road, the peloton is riding a brisk pace, with Jumbo-Visma appearing to set up a Roglič attack by taking control of the front.
14.9km: However, when they get on the final climb, Jumbo, who has burned through their team with their early pacesetting, only has Rohan Dennis remaining on the front, with Thomas tucked in behind with two teammates and Almeida further back with three teammates. Dennis’ pace is so hard that the gap to the breakaway has melted from over three minutes at the base of the climb down to 1’52. Oddly, Roglič isn’t on the front behind Dennis, but is sitting behind Almeida with his teammate Sepp Kuss. This is the first sign that something might not be right.
13.4km: Dennis runs out of gas due to his (maybe too) hard pacesetting, and UAE wastes no time utilizing their numbers by coming forward to increase the pace even further. The gap to the breakaway has dropped down to 1’26.
8.2km: UAE’s hard pace catches and dispatches the breakaway, and splits the peloton. When they run out of riders, Almeida immediately gets to the front and keeps the pace high, which means Almeida must feel incredibly strong. Thomas is looking great on his wheel and Roglič, at least at this point, looks normal.
5.9km: Almeida comes off the pace for a moment, and when no one attempts to attack, and Kuss declines to take up the pacemaking, Almeida decides to attack himself. We see Thomas stand up to get on Kuss’ wheel, but when Roglič doesn’t respond at all, we know something isn’t right.
5.3km: Kuss does a great job of setting a hard pace that keeps Almeida’s gap manageable. But, with Thomas on Kuss’ wheel, and Roglič still at the back, the Jumbo leader is clearly in trouble, and Thomas must be starting to realize this.
4.6km: Thomas, presumably recognizing Roglič’s struggles, attacks to bridge up to Almeida. Behind, Roglič can’t respond and can only continue to ride on Kuss’ wheel.
4.5km: Thomas closes the gap to Almeida. He is going so fast that Almeida has to work incredibly hard to latch onto Thomas as he comes by.
3.2km-2.8km: Thomas drives a hard pace at the front while Almeida hangs on behind, offering a few pulls here and there, while Kuss paces Roglič behind. Kuss’ pacemaking is effective and keeps the gap to Thomas steady after his initial surge took around 20 seconds.
600m: When they come into the final kilometer, Thomas is still hammering on the front with Almeida on his wheel, his Roglic has finally left Kuss and is on the front attempting to keep the gap in check.
150m: Almeida finally comes out of Thomas’ wheel to open up his sprint. He looks strong but is taking the long way around the final corner, while Thomas looks strong on the inside.
Finish: Almeida, benefitting from being pulled along by Thomas, is able to surge clear inside the final 50 meters and takes the stage win, and ten-second time bonus, ahead of Thomas. Roglič sprints in ahead of Eddie Dunbar 25 seconds later.
Key Takeaways
1) João Almeida finally breaks through & signals he should be the favorite for overall victory
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