His travails at Roccaraso, the Passo Valparola and Alpe di Siusi already told their own doleful story, but like a presidential candidate who keeps losing primaries, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) still continued to cling to the possibility of a dramatic swing in the polls at this Giro d'Italia.
Nibali spoke optimistically on the rest day of the many twists yet to come in this race, and he pinned his hopes on reversing the trend as the Giro resumed with the short, fast and exceedingly tough stage 16 to Andalo – a sort of Super Tuesday, so to speak.
Despite a game attack over the Passo della Mendola, however, the grim prognosis of the previous two weeks was simply confirmed as Nibali conceded a further 1:47 on the stage and now slips to fourth overall, some 4:43 behind maglia rosa Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo).
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Nibali had dispatched running mate Tanel Kangert up the road at the base of the Mendola, and then launched a determined attack 500 metres from the summit in a bid to bridge across to the Estonian. Kruijswijk, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) managed to come with him, and the quartet merged with the earlier escapees on the long descent.
At that point, as Nibali and Kangert contributed to the efforts on the front of the leading group, there was still reason to believe that the Sicilian might be about to put a different slant on his Giro, but the long haul of Fai della Paganella issued a withering assessment of his current capabilities.
When Valverde accelerated four kilometres from the summit, Kruijswijk and Zakarin followed instantly, but Nibali was distanced. His pedalling was leaden and his mouth agape as he tackled the steep, 15% section near the summit, where he was caught and then dropped by the chasing Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge).
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- Giro d'Italia stage 16 highlights - video
- Giro d'Italia stage 16 - Finish line quotes
- Giro d'Italia: Valverde wins intense stage to Andalo
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