Mikel Landa pulled on the azzurra-coloured jersey on the podium after finishing second to Vincenzo Nibali in Bormio but the leadership of the mountains competition was little consolation for the Basque rider, who was looking to make up for Team Sky's many misfortunes in this year's Giro d'Italia and land a prestigious stage victory.
Team Sky made the race yet again early in stage 16, placing Landa, Vasil Kiryienka, Philip Deignan and Sebastian Henao in the big group that formed on the Mortirolo after 70km of fast racing. Deignan proved invaluable over the Stelvio and before the Umbrailpass, giving his all to help the breakaway hold as much of its lead into the headwind as possible.
Landa then showed he was the strongest on the Swiss climb, dropping Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) and the surprisingly strong Jan Hurt (CCC Sprandi Polkowice). However, after 150 kilometres out front in the Alps, he lost vital seconds in the final kilometres and then Nibali dived down the descent to catch him and beat him in the close sprint.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Sadly I lost the stage in the final metres but that's cycling. When Nibali caught me I was able to follow him pretty well but then the sprint was a sprint. You can't always win," Landa told Cyclingnews after also being given the Cima Coppi prize for being first over the summit of the 2758m Stelvio.
"The Cima Coppi is always special for a rider, it's also the 100th year of the Giro, and so I was ready to fight for it," he explained.
"I was right on the limit in the final kilometres of the last climb and I could see some riders on the road below. I thought they'd catch me but I fought all the way to the finish because I'd dreamt about holding on and winning the stage."
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2rz4GD2
No comments:
Post a Comment