Quintana victorious on intense mountain stage in Giro d'Italia

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Nairo Quintana (Movistar) rode himself into the Giro d'Italia’s pink jersey, as he took a huge victory on Val Martello on stage 16.

The Colombian soloed to victory after he dropped Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) in the final kilometre. Hesjedal held on for second place to move into the top 10, with Pierre Rolland (Europcar) finishing over a minute down to take third on the stage.

"This gives me confidence and confirms that I can achieve great things in the present and in the future," Quintana said. "I dedicate it to my team. I owe them all this victory."

Quintana made it away on the descent of the Passo dello Stelvio, amid confusion as to whether it had been neutralised. The 24-year-old said he and teammate Gorka Izagirre simply followed Rolland and Hesjedal over the top of the Stelvio and didn't understand all the consternation over the supposed neutralisation.

"At no time was there an attack on the descent, and we heard nothing of neutralisation, neither from the race organisation nor from the team car," Quintana said in a statement. "I don't understand why there is controversy. Besides, we entered the split, but the biggest gap was actually made into the final climb towards Val Martello."

Quintana took a handful of riders with him as he dropped the maglia rosa Rigoberto Urán (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).

After catching Dario Cataldo (Team Sky) on the final climb to Val Martello, Quintana launched his attack. Only Hesjedal could stick with him, but he too was dropped in the final kilometre. The Colombian crossed the line 4:10 ahead of Urán, who is now in second place overall.

The battle for the final podium spot got ever closer, with four riders within 13 seconds of each other. The big loser of the day was Cadel Evans (BMC), who was dropped on the final climb. He is now a tiny five seconds ahead of Rolland, who jumped from eighth to fourth after making it into the attack with Quintana. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Fabio Aru (Astana) loom close to that place on the rostrum.

"In the final, I started cramping," Evans said. "I was limping on one leg all the way home. It is a pity. Normally I am reasonably good in these extreme conditions. But when I can't see the road, I can't descend down it. When I have to pedal with one leg, I can't go uphill. So it was really a day of conservation and survival."

How it happened

The second rest day was done and dusted and the formidable final week began. Whether or not the stage should go on was a contentious issue, but go on it did. This same stage was cancelled last season, but there was no such luck for the riders this time.

Without the conditions, this was set to be the biggest challenge for the riders thus far. The Passo di Gavia was caked in snow and mist as the riders began to climb. As the peloton clustered together, only one man was brave enough to go out alone.

Robinson Chalapud (Colombia) battled through the conditions, barely able to see the cameras in front. The Colombian rider only managed to gain 30 seconds on the following bunch when his teammate Jarlinson Pantano and mountains classification leader Julian Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing) set off in chase.

Chalapud led over the top of the Gavia and took the descent gingerly, the rain falling heavily on the roads and making them very slippery. Arredondo took second at the top, but they were all soon brought back into the fold of the main group.

As the peloton picked their way down the 20-kilometre descent, the group began to split up drastically. Usually a solid descender, Cadel Evans (BMC) found himself off the back of the peloton along with Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R-La Mondiale). Up front, Franco Pellizotti (Androni Giocattoli), Dario Cataldo (Team Sky) and Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R-La Mondiale) gapped the peloton.

The advantage quickly grew to 2:38, as a chasing group formed behind. By the time they reached the foot of the Stelvio, their ranks had swelled to 10. Chalapud and Pantano made the juncture, along with Diego Rosa (Androni Giocattoli), Robert Kiserlovski (Trek Factory Racing), Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) and Herbert Dupont (AG2R-La Mondiale). Alexander Geniez (FDJ.fr) made the chase on his own, before finally making contact.

It was only a brief foray out front, however, with efforts from Tinkoff-Saxo and Nicolas Roche decimating the advantage. The pace was enough to dispose of several Omega Pharma-QuickStep riders en-route. On the ascent, news began to filter through that the descent had been neutralized, but that was later denied by the organisers.

Sensing the peloton snapping at their derailleurs, Cataldo chose to strike out alone. Cheered on by the rain sodden fans, the Italian crested the Stelvio first to take the Cima Coppi prize. Behind him the breakaway group was shattered, as the peloton picked them off one by one. Despite the horrid weather, Cataldo pushed on down the descent.

Not known for his descending skills, Quintana distanced his compatriot Uran. The Colombian made it away with teammate Gorka Izagirre, Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) and Europcar riders Pierre Rolland and Romain Sicard.

Quintana and his fellow chasers joined the second group of three and began to drive on in an attempt to catch the lone Cataldo. As they hit the slopes to Val Martello, the maglia rosa had reduced the gap, but it still stood at more than two minutes.

With 18 kilometres to go, the riders could suddenly enjoy some the dry weather. Although, there wasn’t any time to reflect on it as a struggling Cataldo drew into sight. Quintana chose the first big ramp of the climb to attack, dragging Rolland along with him and the Italian was soon dropped. Hesjedal couldn’t match the immediate acceleration, but soon dragged himself back into contention.

A teammate-less Urán had to rely on Tinkoff-Saxo and AG2R-La Mondiale to help him track down the leaders. Despite the best efforts of both teams, the gap began to edge out. Quintana did almost all of the work up front as he could almost sense the pink jersey coming to him.

Obviously the strongest of the three leaders, Quintana launched several attacks from around seven kilometres out. With the gap breaching three minutes, the attacks began to come out of the chasing group. Evans found himself languishing behind again and possibly waiving goodbye to the podium.

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