Egan Bernal showed his grit and determination to keep coming back on a brutal day in the mountains on stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia.
The Colombian rider finished in 11th place and move up to sixth overall to keep the GC hopes alive after a fantastic comeback on the final climb of the day on the summit of San Valentino.
It was a rain soaked start to the 203km stage, with Thymen Arensman caught behind a small crash before Josh Tarling pushed on in a break with six others. Having established a solid gap, Tarling unfortunately crashed and had to abandon the race.
Kim Heiduk managed to make the 23-man break early on, gaining an eight minute advantage over the peloton at the halfway point.
Up the second climb of the day, the Candriai, Ben Turner and Jonathan Castroviejo hit the front and did a huge turn for the Grenadiers. With 70km to go, Bernal suffered a fall, but was quick to get back on as the weather began to clear, before the peloton hit the penultimate climb, the Santa Barbara.
As UAE Team Emirates - XRG put the hammer down on the front of the peloton, Arensman was hampered by his earlier crash and dropped off the pace.
Bernal looked to also be going backwards, before bridging back to the GC favourites group. Up the final mountain of the day, the Passo di San Valentino, breaks formed all over the climb, with eventual winner Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana Team) going clear with teammate Lorenzo Fortunato.
Bernal stayed focused on following wheels and battling the brutal slopes, overtaking the maglia rosa Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) on the closing stages to finish 11th, and move up to sixth on the GC.
Arensman came home 24th and still continues to be in the top 15 on the GC.
Reaction:
Egan Bernal:
“It was a hard day. I suffered a crash and it was quite difficult to get the good feeling back afterwards. I was already getting dropped in the second-to-last climb, and thinking I was going to lose a lot of time. I kept fighting and believing in myself, and managed to bridge back with the rest of the favourites. All things considered, we can say I came away alright from the day - yet it’s also true that I lost some time to several GC riders.
“The GC has changed quite a lot in just one mountain stage, and there are still three left. We are climbing the Mortirolo tomorrow, for instance. But I will keep fighting. Even if I am a bit cracked up, my plan is to attack and try my luck. If I haven’t given up in five years, I won’t give up in one day.”
Thymen Arensman
“A rider went into the back of me and I landed on my knee and the whole stage I was in pain.
“I was running on adrenaline and I fought to the finish and tried to stay close and help Egan, but in the end I couldn’t fight through the pain. It is what it is, that’s racing.”