Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) celebrated his first ever stage victory at the Giro d'Italia with gusto in Andalo, insisting his debut in the Corsa Rosa has been a success despite now only fighting for a place on the podium rather than overall victory.
Valverde hugged his soigneur and lifted his bike in the air after beating Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) in an intense sprint to the line after an equally intense and aggressively raced stage 16 that saw Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) and especially Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) lose time in the battle for places on the podium.
Valverde gained 42 seconds on the Colombian and 1:47 on the struggling Sicilian to jump above him into third overall. Valverde is 3:23 down on Kruijswijk but only 23 seconds down on Chaves.
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"I had two big goals before the race: to win a stage and secure a place on the podium. Now we got one and we're there for the other one," Valverde argued.
"There are still two big stages to come and I'm happy how my Giro is going. The team is strong and now were even first in team competition, too. I'm enjoying the Giro and I now regret not coming before. Now I'm happy to be here."
Valverde had promised to be aggressive on the short but mountainous stage from Bressanone to Andalo and his Movistar team pushed the pace before the Passo della Mendola at the halfway point. Valverde made several attacks and ensured he was in the select front group that later distanced Nibali and ensured that Chaves never caught them.
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