Tiberi sees Giro dream slip away: "After the efforts of the day before, things only got worse"

Tiberi crashed hard in Saturday’s stage to Slovenia and had already hinted afterward that his injuries might be more serious than they first appeared. While he managed to stay with the GC group on Tuesday, the second mountain stage after the final rest day proved too much.

"I was already in a lot of pain on my left side this morning," Tiberi told reporters at the finish, including CyclingProNet. "The muscles in my leg were sore after the crash, but after Tuesday’s effort it only got worse. I had to push through a lot with those injuries in the last stage, and I think that definitely didn’t help my condition."

"I was struggling from the start, and once the road went uphill, it got worse," said the Bahrain Victorious leader, who had started the Giro with podium ambitions. "I survived the first climb, but on the Mortirolo I just couldn’t push the watts anymore because of the pain. Still, I really wanted to make it to the finish in Bormio."

Tiberi finished 42nd on the stage, crossing the line 10 minutes and 31 seconds behind winner Isaac Del Toro of UAE Emirates-XRG. With his time loss, leadership duties at Bahrain Victorious will now shift to Damiano Caruso, who finished seventh on the day and moved up to fifth place in the overall standings of the Giro d’Italia.