Giro d'Italia 2019: Stage 16

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January 1 - June 2, Lovere, Italy, Road - WorldTour

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Hello and welcome to our live coverage from stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia

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Hello and welcome to our live coverage from stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia. We're back after the rest and we've a cracker for you, with the race tackling the queen stage of this year's Giro. The route has been modified with the Gavia removed but we still have several climbs, including the one to Aprica and the Mortirolo thrown in for good measure. This could be the day that defines this year's race and we'll have complete live text coverage throughout the day.

We're about 50 minutes away from the start but riders are already signing on this morning. Here's a reminder of how the race for the maglia rosa stands ahead of the stage:

Roglic will be put under pressure today. He crashed on stage 15, his team director went awol just when the Slovenian had a mechanical, and the Jumbo Visma rider was forced to ride a teammate's bike in the finale. It was a farce, to be honest, and it cost Roglic valuable time in the overall standings. The team admitted their mistakes during yesterday's press conference  - story here - but the big question this morning is how banged up Roglic will be after hitting the barriers when he crashed. A fall that late in a stage can be overcome on adrenalin but only he and his team will know the full extent of his injuries, and despite what's said in rest-day press conferences there's no hiding on the road. It could be become very interesting if the pace is fast from the start this morning, especially as we start with an unclassified climb. 

We also have a Mortirolo winner in the top ten, with Mikel Landa winning on the climb in 2015. That day was memorable because his then Astana teammate, Fabio Aru, cracked and lost time. Landa later attacked, won the stage and Alberto Contador had to chase after a mechanical of his own. That was a pretty incredible stage, and you can relive it here.

You can find our stage preview ahead of stage 16 right here. There are quotes from Vincenzo Nibali, who is third on GC and who made up time on Roglic after the Jumbo rider's miserable stage 15. The Italian, remember, started the final few stages in 2016 almost five minutes down on the maglia rosa before putting in a remarkable comeback to win the overall race on the penultimate stage. He can't be written off, even with the final time trial still to come, and even without the Gavia he's a considerable threat for Roglic to worry about.

Simon Yates is also creeping up the standings and is currently eighth overall. The maglia rosa is gone but it's not impossible to imagine him sitting fourth at the end of today's stage if he has another good day in the mountains. He'll have Polanc and the tiring Mollema in his sights, and if Landa is sacrificed for Carapaz and Majka cracks the British rider could be back in the mix for a podium place. A lot of things have to fall his way but he has some much needed momentum while the three riders above him on GC have started to fade.

This is the scene in Lovere this morning. That's Bob Jungels, who has had a poor Giro by his standards and is currently 25th overall. Maybe it's the knock-on effect of an exacting - if successful- debut cobbled classics campaign. 

It seems a distant memory now, but this Giro had been labelled tedious. The second week put that notion firmly to bed and the race has taken on a whole new dimension. With so many mountains in this final week, there is ample room for further drama and developments. Here's Barry Ryan casting his analytical eye over the complexion of the race at this crucial juncture. 

It's going to be misty up on the climbs

"The Mortirolo gives you the impression that it's an infinite climb."

Here's your race leader. Can Richard Carapaz hold onto the maglia rosa today? Can he even extend his lead? 

As the riders line up on the start line, we have one non-starter, and that's Brent Bookwalter (Mitchelton-Scott), who has been "battling health issues on and off since the first rest day".

We're rolling. The riders have set off and are currently making their way through the neutralised section. 

We're off!

A few strong riders looking to get away early on:

Nibali's henchman Damiano Caruso is active on the front of the peloton, shutting down attacks. 

A larger group has now formed off the front of the peloton but it's far from away.

Movistar have fired Andrey Amador into this break. 

Jungels and Brambilla tried to counter, along with Roglic's chief lieutenant, Antwan Tolhoek, interestingly. Anyway, they've all been brought back by the peloton which is not letting this move out of its sights. 

The lead group has swelled to 22 riders after just 8km of racing with Caruso among the riders who have jumped away from the peloton. The former BMC Racing rider has been instrumental for Nibali in the last week and that's set to continue after the rest day. The group has 20 seconds on the main field at this point.

Bahrain Merida in fact have two men in the break with Antonio Nibali also making the cut. Astana, Ag2R are also present, along with Jungels, Nieve, Ulissi, Bilbao and Amador. Cattaneo and Masnada are there too, but Roglic has not sent a man up the road. 

EF are present and accounted for with Brown and Joe Dombrowski, who has been present in a number of mountain stages so far. He will be looking for the stage win today but he also has a chance of moving up the overall standings in what has been an impressive Grand Tour for the former Bontranger rider. 

180km remaining from 196km

Movistar, Jumbo Visma, Bora, EF, Bahrain and Astana are all in the move but Ineos and Katusha have missed the split. Trek have Ciccone, who else, in the move. 

Overall though it's a incredibly strong group with most of the GC teams represented. Mitchelton will look for the stage win with Nieve and then use Jensen to pull in the valleys and protect their veteran climber, who was second in a mountain stage earlier in the race. Nieve is arguably the best climber in the break but Ulissi, and a few others can't be written off when it comes to challenging for the stage  honours. Riders like Caruso and Amador are strong but one would suspect that they'll be required to pull the break along and then wait for their respective team leaders later in the stage.

Nieve is also the best placed rider on GC. He's 16th overall at the start of today's racing, 23'48 down on Carapaz's pink jersey - so no threat at all. Team Ineos might be the sole team interested in chasing, simply because they will be looking to perform in the teams classification. 

175km remaining from 196km

In fact the peloton are sitting up, and that will be a relief to the riders struggling at the back, as the gap moves out to 2'50. 

Here's the latest update on the weather from the race organisers but conditions are expected to be colder at the top of the Mortirolo:

The break have gone over the Presolana and now it's a fast descent into the bottom of the next unclassified climb. 

Here's a full list of the riders in the break, ordered by their star signs:

The peloton crest the climb, roughly three minutes down on the breakaway and with a gaggle of GC teams sitting close the front as they prep for the descent. 

166km remaining from 196km

Ciccone will be watching Masnada and Cattaneo in the break as they're rivals for the Mountains classification but at the moment the Trek Segafredo rider has a healthy buffer in the standings. He'll look to claim the points at Cevo and Aprica, for sure, but they're just 3rd cat climbs. If he wants points on the Mortirolo - from the break at least - he'll need the gap to move out beyond its current 2'30 mark.

The break are onto the Croce di Salven - another unclassified climb - and the gap is holding at between two and three minutes. The lower slopes top out at just over 8 per cent but the gradient on the rest of the climb is relatively shallow. The ascent is around 9km in length so riders will feel the cumulative effects of this effort late on in the stage. 

Jasha Sütterlin is leading the peloton on his own at the moment. The highly underrated German rider has been approached by several teams this spring as he's out of contract at the end of this season. He's holding the gap on his own at the moment.

150km remaining from 196km

134km remaining from 196km

The breakaway come to the bottom of the descent and will now face a near-20km section of false flat before the first categorised climb of the day: Cevo. 

123km remaining from 196km

Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale) has abandoned the Giro. He's in a team car and we're waiting for more information as to why.

The breakaway riders are about to hit the Cevo climb. This is what it looks like. 

This could be a big day for Nibali today. Roglic looks vulnerable and he'll fancy his chances of eating into the one-minute deficit to the Slovenian. He'll probably need another minute on top of that to give him a buffer for the final time trial. Can he peg back Carapaz, though? The Ecuardorian is 1:47 ahead of him and looking very strong indeed. 

Movistar lead the peloton onto the Cevo, 4:30 in arrears. 

 Hindley leads the break with 110km to go. Sunweb have had a terrible Giro d'Italia and will be looking to rescue their race with a stage win. They came here with so much hope and expectation but lost Dumoulin and then Oomen. At least they're giving it a decent shot today by posting a rider in the break but Movistar are setting the pace behind and have the break at 4'40.

Movistar are taking the race on today and leading from the front. They could easily have given the break another four or five minutes but they've set a steady pace and kept the tempo to their liking throughout today's stage. It will be interesting to see how many riders they have for the final two climbs but they've proved throughout this Giro that they're the strongest team in the race.

Roughly 3km to go on the Cevo climb and it's still six Movistar riders on the front of the peloton. The team have such a rich heritage in Grand Tours, with Quintana, Valverde, Indurain, Olano all winning Grand Tours in the last few decades for the squad under different title sponsors. Almost put Cobo on that list but he won the Vuelta while in Geox colours and rode for Movistar either side of that 2011 triumph. 

105km remaining from 196km

We're almost near the summit and we should see Ciccone move to the front in the next few hundred meters as he looks to consolidate his lead in the Mountains classification. 

And here he goes. The Trek rider takes maximum points and it looks like Bahrain Merida use that acceleration to kick on and create a bit of a spilt in the break as we race towards Aprica with 103km to go.

Cattaneo and Masnada were second and third but Ciccone took the maximum of nine points on the last climb. Meanwhile, Movistar continue to set the pace for the maglia rosa. 

The bunch crest the climb and the difference between the break and the peloton holds at 4'40, with just over 100km to go.

We're into the final 100km of the stage and the break are having to work extra hard just to find a handful of seconds, but it's down to 4'21 on that last descent. 

The climb to Aprica is next but already all eyes have turned to the Mortirolo but the bunch have sat up, and a few riders are taking comfort breaks and taking off layers of clothing. Jumbo-Visma, if you're following live coverage, now is an okay time to take a quick break. 

This is the chance for the break to try and move their advantage to over six minutes as we ride in the valley between the last climb and Aprica. It's down to 4'21 with 89km to go.

86km remaining from 196km

Behind Movistar we have Visma, and then Bahrain as the natural order on GC starts to take control in the race. 

5'15 so the 21 riders in the break are making use of the flatter roads between the climbs but we'll soon we climbing again as we head towards Aprica and the second third cat climb of the stage. 

Not yet onto the Aprica climb but the road is already tipping upwards as the break lines out. There are a number of passengers starting to emerge in the break but they're still holding the gap at over five minutes. 

Finally the break hit the climb and there are a few riders starting to struggle. They've still got the Mortirolo to come!

Jensen is digging deep as he grinds his way up the climb, while Nieve moves up towards the front of the break. 77km to go.

We're on the steepest part of the climb Schwarzmann sets the pace and even manages to open out a little gap before Astana close the move.

Carapaz still has his full quota of teammates around him, including Landa with 75km to go, and Movistar's tactics have been measured throughout the day. Don't forget they have Amador up the road in the break and he's still enjoying a free ride.

77km remaining from 196km

Amador has dropped back to the team car before he nestles back towards the rear of the break. His role could be crucial today,  assuming that Movistar will look to attack with Landa and/or Carapaz later in the stage. 

1.6km to go until we reach the next summit at Aprica. The break hold their gap at 5'09 as we see Movistar have lost one man from their pace-setting on the front of the peloton.

Ciccone takes off with both Androni riders as they do battle for the mountains points. Ciconne takes the maximum of 9 points once more, and extends his lead in the competition. He's had to work hard for his 18 points today but if he can survive the Mortirolo and gain points there, that would be huge for his chances of sealing the jersey at the Giro finish on Sunday.

Suterlin was the rider dropped from the maglia rosa group but he might  be able to come back on the descent before the major climb of today's stage. 64km to go and the gap between the break and the main field holds at just over five minutes. 

We're over the top of the climb and on the descent as we head towards the foot of the Mortirolo.

Ventoso has taken off on the descent and his leading the race having been in the break earlier. CCC have failed to shine during the race but they're in the mix today at least. 

55km to go for Ventoso who is tearing down the descent at the moment but if his pace his high the bunch are going even faster, with the gap down to 4'46.

The break are back in the valley but there's a crash. 

That fall leaves Carapaz with three men with 51km to go. He will want Pedrero back with him soon as Ventoso extends his lead on the rest of the break to 24 seconds. The bunch are back at 4'40.

Ventoso's gap is coming down. It's at just11 seconds as Landa stops for a brief moment and the pace drops in the main field. 

Juul Jensen and Nieve hit the front and they push the break on towards the Mortirolo. The gap is decent but probably not big enough if the GC riders start attacking each other at the foot of the major climb.

48km remaining from 196km

So far Roglic has had an easy(ish) day as he settles behind his teammates in the peloton. All the big questions, howewer, will be answered on the Mortirolo.  And Sutterlin did indeed come back and sets the pace for Movistar on the flat roads before the climb.

And with 45km to go  there's a split in the break with Mitchelton helping to cause the gap.  Ciccone has missed out and he leads the pace.

The break come back together but then reach breaking point once more as Juul Jensen pushes on the pedals. We're 2km from the start of the Mortirolo.

42km remaining from 196km

The break have slowed, they're not going to split until we reach the lower slopes of the Mortirolo and Ulissi is losing his cool and giving out to people. I think the working relationship between the 21 riders has long gone. Brown leads them towards the foot of the Mortirolo.

And we're onto the climb with Juul Jensen leading the way. Here we go.

The peloton are almost six minutes back as up the road Brown leads the break with Ciccone on his wheel. 38km to go.

A number of riders have already been dropped due to the pressure from EF Education First. FDJ are leading the peloton for some reason. 

And the bunch hit the cobbles just before the climb starts. 38km to go and the gap is at 5'40.

The first kilometre is easy but then we're almost immediately into double figures and it just gets worse and worse from there. In the break Brown still leads as he looks to set up Dombrowski. 

Nibali has moved up towards the front of the peloton and he's second wheel, even putting pressure on Movistar at the early part of the climb. That's a huge sign of intent this early on.

Landa comes around the left and moves up as well as Nibali looks left and gives each of his rival the eyes. 

Still Agnoli on the front of the peloton, with Nibali and them Movistar just behind.

Bauer is still there for Mitchelton and he's second wheel right now as the break are left with just half a dozen riders.

Movistar take over once more and lead with three riders ahead of Carapaz with still over 9km of the climb to come. Roglic is there too.

Dombrowski has been dropped by the break, so we're down to just five riders. 

Carapaz is on Landa's wheel as Ciccone tries to go clear on his own. Nieve matches  him with Caruso and one other rider. It's Hirt, who then attacks and creates a gap with 36km to go.

It's so hard to gain a gap on a climb this tough and Nieve counters and brings back the Astana rider. Nieve, Hirt, Caruso and Ciccone are all that's left from the break.

Hirt goes once more and this time the acceleration does create a gap as Ciccone tries to counter. Nieve and Caruso just match each other and keep to their own pace. 35km to go.

Hirt has about 15m on the trio chasing and they're all out of the saddle as we see Movistar lead the maglia rosa peloton but only about 30 riders left in contention. Nieve has been dropped.

Caruso takes over the chase and now we have three riders as we hit the 18 per cent gradients on the climb. 

Hirt continues but back in the bunch Pozzovivo takes over and Nibali is on his wheel. They want a harder tempo than Movistar were setting as they begin to close in on the hardest part of the climb. 

Roglic  has just lost his last teammate  but Bouwman should be up the  road...

Pozzovivo carries on at the front of the maglia rosa group as we see Lopez make it back. Majka is struggling though. And so is... Yates. Majka a bit further back. Bahrain are making them all struggle.

34km remaining from 196km

That's his biggest acceleration of the race and he has a small gap on the gradient and Ventoso gives him a bottle. That's not Van Avermaet, Fran...

Nibali carries on and continues to push ahead as Movistar just keep him in their sights. Caruso has slipped back from the trio still out in front. Roglic is struggling. The Jumbo rider is in trouble!

We have Movistar with three, one rider from EF and then a small gap to Roglic, and then Sivakov. Riders all already all over the clmib. Carthy has now attacked from the Carapaz group. 

Will Landa be forced to work for Carapaz once Movistar lose their last support rider? Roglic and a few others make it back to the maglia rosa group as Carthy catches Nibali and sits on his wheel.

The road rises once more and Nibali sets the tempo and allows Carthy to sit on his wheel for now. Carapaz still has Landa, one other teammate, Lopez and Mollema for company.

Nibali is holding that gap to his rivals at back 10 seconds, and Movistar keep him in their sights. The Spanish team are keeping their calm with 32km to go in the stage. 

32km remaining from 196km

Mollema goes around Roglic like he's standing still. This is a huge moment in this year's race and Roglic needs to come back to the Trek rider on this climb. Nibali has a teammate, his brother, working for him now with Carthy still on the wheel. 

Lopez has been caught by the Movistar trio, Yates is further down the climb with Zakarin but Roglic is on his own and in trouble right now.

11 seconds separate Nibali and the Carapaz group. That's really not a concern for Movistar as things stand. 

Movistar are coming back as we see Roglic caught by the Yates group. That's not a massive problem for him. He'll get some rest and can use those riders on the descent, but he needs to limit his loses. 

31km remaining from 196km

Roglic is 30 seconds off the pink jersey group but he has Yates and several riders to help him as we see Landa bring Carapaz closer to Nibali and Carthy. The gap is about five seconds.

Landa asks for help. That's not a good sign as this point as Nibali turns the screw and takes a few more seconds on his rivals. Carapaz has to take over with Landa on his wheel, and Lopez just at the back of the trio. 

Nibali and Carthy are cutting through the break a la Contador in 2015. 

Nibali are gaining time with every pedal stroke and they have clear daylight on the maglia rosa group. 

Carthy picks up a teammate in Brown but there's not much assistance. His teammate is spent. 

Carapaz has kept his nerve, however, and he's almost on Nibali's wheel. He closed that gap all on his own after Landa called him through. And now Lopez has attacked. He catches Nibali and goes around him. He now has Nibali on his wheel. 

29km remaining from 196km

1'10 to Roglic at this point, who is making use of the strong Mitchelton team, as we see Lopez attack again. Carthy has been dropped. 

Back  at the front and Hirt, Ciccone and Caruso  are together again. Ciccone has 1km to go before the KOM points. 

Landa is back at the front of the maglia rosa group with Nibali on his wheel. Carthy is back too as Lopez takes a break from attacking. For now.

Zakarin is now back with the Roglic and Yates group. No sign of Polanc or Majka though. They've gone. They're done.

Caruso has gone too and Ciccone just has Hirt for company in these awful conditions as we close in on the summit of the Mortirolo.

27km remaining from 196km

The Carapaz group are still working with Landa on the front and a gap of 1'15 to the Roglic/Yates group.  

1'30 now between Roglic and the maglia rosa. The gap is only getting bigger.

Before today we'd hardly seen Roglic crack in a stage race but that's all changed today. He's losing the Giro d'Italia as we see the rain continue to fall heavily. This has been nothing short of brutal. 

This descent is nothing short of dangerous with the tight roads, made worse by the rain and the poor visibility. At the front Hirt and Ciccone keep it together as Roglic and co crest the climb 1'45 down on the Nibali/Carapaz group.

Lopez, in all of that, has moved clear and is 20 seconds clear of the Carapaz group. 

Lopez has Bilbao to help him on the descent as further back Roglic is limiting his loses to around 1'40. We've still got the climb to the finish to come, however. 

17km remaining from 196km

Amador almost overcooks a corner but just manages to keep it together. 

Ciccone is giving Hirt some chat because the Astana rider isn't coming through and working. That's fair because Hirt can't say he has teammates chasing because they're four minutes back.

13km to go for the two leaders and they have 4'16 but it's all uphill. Perhaps the worrying thing for Ciccone is that Hirt still looks strong. The Trek car comes up to the pair. 

Lopez still has 20 seconds on the maglia rosa group that includes Carapaz, Cathy, Landa, Nibali and Amador.

Wonderful move from Ciccone. He waits for the Trek car to come over and give some grief to Hirt and then when the Astana rider responds Ciccone attacks and is forced to close the gap.

If Astana go 1,2,3, today Trek Segafredo are going to implode. It's very unlikely though as we see Carapaz take a jacket from the Movistar car. 

11km remaining from 196km

Roglic is working on the flat and he could be bringing the gap down to Nibali but finally Caruso is back with the maglia rosa group and he puts the hammer down right away. 10km to go.

We're climbing all the way to the finish but Roglic is coming back and he has the maglia rosa group at under 40 seconds. That's an incredible comeback. 

Roglic and Yates have cut that lead in half. 

Dombrowski, and Lopez have been caught by the Nibali group but they can't look around and Caruso goes to the front again. 

3'43 for the two leaders, so the stage will come from Hirt or Ciccone. 

Hirt has started to take the odd turn since Lopez was caught.

Astana, Bahrain and Movistar are all committing now as they look to put Roglic to the sword. There's no time gap right now but it was around 40 seconds a few kilometers ago.

It's back out to one minute between Carapaz/Nibali and Roglic and even the race leader is working hard to extend the lead. They had 1'30 at the top of the Mortirolo.

This is more of a long drag rather than a  proper climb but after almost 200km of racing in these conditions, and the Mortirolo, it will still hurt. 

1'10 now between Carapaz and Roglic on the road. 

4km remaining from 196km

1'21 now between Roglic and the maglia rosa group. 2.2k to go.

1'30 now between Roglic and Carapaz. 

1km remaining from 196km

Hirt is just waiting for the sprint.

Ciccone continues on the front.

They're both out of the saddle 300m to go.

Ciccone goes first.

Win. Ciccone takes the stage win for Trek Segafredo. 

Now we look to the next group and we see Caruso leading the Nibali/Carapaz group.

No bonus for third place because that will go to Masnada, I think. 

Masnada takes third on the stage.

Carthy leads the group to the line. Nibali takes fourth.

Lopez has lost some time in the finale, about 15 seconds or so.

Roglic and Yates are coming to the line.

Yates is leading the group home.

Roglic the only rider I've seen finish without a rain jacket.

About 1'23 between Roglic and his rivals. He's still in this year's race.

Sivakov leads another group over the line. Majka and Formolo, and even Zakarin are going to finish well down.

Here is our stage 16 race report.

That stage had so much to it and the Mortirolo really saw the Giro come to life. We're still waiting on the final time gaps, however. 

Here's your stage top 10.

Ciccone full of emotion when he took that stage win. That would mean so much to him after he lead over the Mortirolo. He had to deal with Hirt messing around, and the conditions but handled the situation well. The mountains classification is surely heading to Ciccone too.

Here's the GC after today's stage:

Roglic at the finish finally has a jacket on as he wraps up after a brutally tough stage. His race is not over but his challenge has taken a huge hit. Movistar on the other hand look like they have everything under control.

Roglic is warming down on the rollers at the moment. He was lucky to have Yates and Mollema in the final 35km, otherwise who knows where the Jumbo rider would be on GC. 

The fallout from the Roglic stage has already started. You can find our latest news and reaction, right here.

A reminder of the new GC after today's stage:

Lets hear from our stage winner, Giulio Ciccone: “I've been waiting for this second stage win for two years now. So I yelled with joy on the finishing line because it's been a complicated day with lots of rain and cold. Jan Hirt didn't want to cooperate so it's been a bit nervous between us but at the end I'm happy with everything.”

And our maglia rosa has been thrust in front of the media too:

You have to say, Movistar were impressive today. They had numbers at every point, and even when Nibali attacked and the gap moved out to around 18 seconds the Spanish team didn't panic. Nibali will be pleased with the time he put into Roglic but he would have wanted more at the top of the Mortirolo and he's  still not cracked Carapaz. There's still time though...

You can find our finishline quotes, right here.

Thanks for joining us today. We'll be back for stage 17.

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