Stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia saw chaotic crashes, high-profile abandons, and major shifts in the general classification narrative as the peloton tackled some brutal climbs in northern Italy. Christian Scaroni and mountains classification leader Lorenzo Fortunato went one-two for XDS-Astana out of the breakaway with Giulio Pellizzari taking third on the day after his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team leader Primož Roglič crashed out.
Just behind Pellizzri at the San Valentino finish was Richard Carapaz (EF Education First-EasyPost), who made a massive surge up the GC standings after attacking an already select group of pink jersey hopefuls on the final climb. Meanwhile, race leader Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was dropped in the final kilometers and lost a big chunk of time to the likes of Carapaz, Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech), and Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike).
That wasn't the only bad news for UAE as the team saw Juan Ayuso dropped much earlier. The Spaniard fell out of GC contention completely on the day. When all was said and done, Del Toro was still in pink, but with substantially less breathing room as Yates now sits 26 seconds back with Carapaz 31 seconds behind, and with even harder stages on the horizon.
[race_result id=13 stage_id=86455 count=10 gc=0 year=2025]
[race_result id=13 stage_id=86455 count=10 gc=10 year=2025]
How it happened
- Riders rolled out from Piazzola sul Brenta in cold and very wet conditions, and the rain would be their constant companion for hours, making for dangerously slick roads. The early goings saw a fierce battle to get into the break as well as the first abandon of the day as Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) made it into a select group of escapees only to crash in a roundabout, ultimately leaving the race.
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