Stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia was one of the final chances for the climbers to gain time on race leader Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), but they were forced to balance their ambitions with sportsmanship as the maglia rosa stopped just before the final climb to relieve his bowels.
As they began the final climb to Umbrailpass, the contenders held off on their attacks out of respect. Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) was the first to jump, but was called back by his directeur sportif Dmitry Konyshev, according to the team.
"We were planning to do something, but it was a bit confusing when the leader stopped for an emergency toilet break," Konyshev said. "Zakarin tried to attack but I stopped him while we tried to get a better understanding from the car what was happening. Instead of attacking he continued to follow the other guys."
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Movistar's Nairo Quintana and eventual stage winner Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) soon took up the aggression, and Zakarin lost contact before the top of the climb and the 20km descent.
"He found a good rhythm with Quintana and [Domenico] Pozzivivo but it was impossible to gain time on the downhill because we know that is not his best skill. He lost some 30 seconds from Nibali on the stage but for me it is OK as he gained time on some of his other rivals," Konyshev concluded.
Zakarin finished the stage with his fifth place still intact, and he gained ground on FDJ's Thibaut Pinot, now trailing fourth place by two seconds, and is 1:28 behind third placed Quintana.
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Kruijswijk's aggression doesn't pay off
Pozzovivo makes up ground
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