Anything can happen in the final week of the Giro d'Italia, and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) knows that better than anyone. The Sicilian out-sprinted Mikel Landa (Sky) to win stage 16 in Bormio after a white-knuckle descent of the Stelvio, moving up to third overall in the process, but the day will be remembered for the misfortune that befell race leader Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) ahead of the final climb.
32 kilometres from the finish, as the group of favourites braced itself for a second assault on the Stelvio, this time by way of the Umbrailpass, Nibali's earpiece crackled to life with a surprising piece of news: the maglia rosa had stopped abruptly, disrobing with the haste of Reginald Perrin as he crouched on the roadside to answer a most urgent call of nature.
Nibali had begun the day 3:40 down on Dumoulin in the overall standings and viewed the Giro's tappone as a prime opportunity to begin reversing his losses of the previous two weeks. As Nibali, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and the podium contenders began the climb, they had to decide whether or not to look this particular gift horse in the mouth.
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At the beginning of Dumoulin's frantic chase, indecision reigned in the group containing Nibali et al, but with the Dutchman lagging a minute behind, and with the escapees – including danger man Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) – augmenting their advantage in front, the détente was not to be a lasting one.
"We were in the group two minutes down on the break, and we were going hard to begin the climb. Just before swinging left onto the Stelvio for the second time, the news came through that the maglia rosa had stopped. It wasn't clear what had happened," Nibali said. "The pace was high because Orica and Trek were pulling, but once we started the climb there was a moment when we stopped and slowed down. But the break's lead was growing, and a few riders started attacking again; the race was on.
"It was the finale of the stage and it was difficult to say if we should stop or not. It wasn't a crash but a problem that was maybe linked to a bad feed on the descent or not being properly covered up on his way down. In the history of cycling, there've been lots of incidents like this. I remember Peter Sagan having a similar problem at the Geelong Worlds and nobody stopped to wait for Peter Sagan."
Battling Quintana
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