Giro d'Italia leader Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNl-Jumbo) withstood the pressure of Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) on the Coll dell'Agnello but came to grief at the start of the descent. The Dutch rider ran into the three-meter high snow bank but was able to get back up and chasing with the help of neutral support.

Meanwhile, Nibali and Chaves kept racing on the descent, opening up a gap of more than a minute. Kruijswijk began the stage with three minutes on Chaves, and 4:43 on Nibali.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), third overall at 3:23, was distanced on the climb, but passed Kruijswijk on the descent when the LottoNl-Jumbo rider stopped to change bikes.