Tom Dumoulin's disappointment and anger was easy to see as he pulled on the pink jersey on the podium in Bormio after stage 16 but even a few minutes later, as he talked to the media in the mixed zone, he managed to eventually find a smile, indicating that his body and his spirit are not broken and that his chances of winning the Giro d'Italia are not over.
The Team Sunweb leader started the queen stage over the Stelvio with a lead of 2:41 on Nairo Quintana (Movistar), 3:21 on Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and 3:40 on Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida). He lost 2:18 to stage winner Nibali after being forced to make a sudden toilet stop at the side of the road before the final climb of the Umbrailpass.
Dumoulin seemed on the ropes as he tried to reel in his rivals, but they were unable to land a knockout punch. He bravely fought all the way to Bormio, limiting his losses on the high and steep climb and on the descent, and so managing to hang on to his pink jersey. It was a show of pride and defiance.
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Of course, the Giro d'Italia is now wide open again. Dumoulin leads Quintana by a slim 31 seconds, while Nibali moved up to third overall at 1:12.
"I'll need some to recover from this," Dumoulin admitted before indicating he would fight on in the remaining mountain stages.
"Do I have another option? So yes," he said cracking a first smile.
No fair play for toilet stops
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