Bak wins 100 beers for conquering Stelvio - Giro d'Italia shorts

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Lars Bak (Lotto Soudal) was the lucky, or perhaps unlucky, rider to win 100 beers for being the heaviest rider to complete the Stelvio during Tuesday's stage. The Stelvio Bike Experience cafe put up the offer ahead of the Giro d'Italia and duly delivered, with Sporza's man on the motorbike, Renaat Schotte, photographing the incident.

Bak took the honours with a reported weight of 80 kilos, beating CCC Sprandi Polkowice's Marcin Bialoblocki at 79 kilos and Sunweb's Tom Stamsnijder at 77 kilos. Trek-Segafredo's Jasper Stuyven questioned the results, telling Schotte that he weighed in at more than 80 kilos. Perhaps Bak will give him one or two beers. He's certainly got enough to keep him going for some time.

Sunweb: We'd have signed for a 31-second lead after Stelvio

Tom Dumoulin's Sunweb team manager Ivan Spekenbrink has denied that his rider's chances of victory at this year's Giro d'Italia are done after a difficult queen stage. With three more punishing mountain stages and a time trial to come, Dumoulin holds a 31-second advantage over Nairo Quintana (Movistar) in the general classification.

Of course, Dumoulin's lead heading into stage 16 had been much greater, but it was almost demolished after the Dutchman had to stop for an unexpected, and unwanted, comfort break. However, Spekenbrink says that if the 31-second lead had been offered to them ahead of the Giro d'Italia then they would have gladly taken it.

"When you see how he rode the last climb on his own and barely lost time to all the favourites, he rode a very strong climb. Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana were ultimately not much better. The Giro is certainly not lost," Spekenbrink told Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf. "Beforehand we would have signed up to a scenario after riding the Stelvio with Tom in the pink with 31 seconds ahead of Quintana. We stay with our plan because there is everything still to win. We keep going full for the final victory. "

Spekenbrink said that Dumoulin was not ill but had been suffering from biorhythm issues and indicated that the incident could bring out Dumoulin's fighting spirit.

One of the big questions after the stage was whether or not the group of favourites should have waited for Dumoulin in his time of need. Dumoulin said on social media after the stage that he was not at all angry with his rivals for not pulling up and waiting for him to regain contact. With some general classification threats up the road, Spekenbrink agrees with his rider on that matter.

"No," Spekenbrink said when asked if they should have waited. "I saw that Movistar intended to, but Bahrain-Merida remained full gas. That is understandable because it was a pivotal moment in the race just before the final climb."

Twitter poll: Should they have waited?

The issue of Tom Dumoulin's nature break and the response of the main contenders up front has been a polarising one. While Dumoulin and his team boss have resoundingly said no, there are plenty that disagree.

More than 10,000 people have voted in our Twitter poll, with the consensus being that they should have given the maglia rosa a chance to make it back. There's still time to vote and make your opinion heard.

Kangert undergoes operation

Tanel Kangert has had successful surgery on his injuries following a dramatic exit from the Giro d'Italia. Kangert suffered a displaced fracture of his right elbow and a broken left humerus after colliding with a road sign during stage 15.

Kangert had been trying to jump a traffic island at the time but, unfortunately for the Estonian, there was a sign hidden by the riders in front of him. On Tuesday evening, Kangert posted a picture of himself in hospital holding one of Astana's special edition bidons in honour of Michele Scarponi, who passed away last month.

"Thank you for all the messages and good wishes. Operation in Brescia hospital went well, special thanks to Dr Flavio Terragnoli. As soon as I get back on my bike I will use this special bottle to return even stronger," he wrote alongside the picture.

Kangert is expected to be out of action for the remainder of the season, with his recovery period likely to be from six to seven months.

Elissonde: The pain was just too much

While his teammate Mikel Landa was battling it out for victory on stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia, Kenny Elissonde was forced to climb into the team car and quit the race. Elissonde had injured his arm in a crash on stage 15 ahead of the rest day but tried to battle on.

However, with such a brutal day in store for the riders when they resumed racing this week, the pain became too much for Elissonde. The Frenchman is the second Team Sky rider to depart the race after Geraint Thomas headed home last week following a heavy crash on the run to Blockhaus on stage 9.

"It was a tough race with all the bad luck this year at Blockhaus and Geraint having to leave, but sometimes you learn more when it's hard than when it is easy, and everything is going well," said Elissonde on the team website. "I just tried to finish on Sunday and on Tuesday I just thought I would try and for the first two hours and the pain was too bad, each little hole in the road I could feel in my elbow.