Unleashed Carapaz crushes UAE-Emirates XRG on a crazy day in the Giro d'Italia, XDS-Astana takes first and second place

Monday's rest day must have been very welcome for the riders. The second week was packed with action, but the final week will be jam-packed with mountain stages. The sixteenth stage was the first of these. Four climbs had to be conquered in 200 kilometers, and the finish in San Valentino would be grueling. And as if that weren't enough, the weather in northern Italy was terrible. The riders set off on their quest in pouring rain.

A stage like this is always an opportunity for strong breakaway riders. The battle for the breakaway was intense, causing quite a bit of chaos. Gianmarco Garofoli's (Soudal Quick-Step) crash was spectacular and also caused a crash involving Thymen Arensman. The Dutch rider from INEOS Grenadiers went down at low speed but could continue.

After a fierce battle, seven riders managed to break away. One of them was Wout van Aert. The Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike was joined by Josh Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers), Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ), Darren Rafferty (EF Education - EasyPost), Jon Barrenetxea (Movistar), Xabier Mikel Azparren (Q36.5) and Josef Cerny (Soudal Quick-Step). On the relatively flat roads at the start, they were able to slowly but surely build up their lead.

But soon, they were down to six after Tarling took a nasty tumble on a roundabout. He slid into the outside corner and crashed hard into the barriers. It didn't look good, which was soon confirmed: the Brit remained on the ground for a long time and was clearly in pain. Moments later, the time trialist's withdrawal was confirmed. INEOS could now hope that their bad luck was over after the first 30 kilometers.

Just as the remaining six riders seemed to be getting the better of the peloton, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) reignited the fire in the peloton. The UAE Emirates-XRG riders let it go, and around fifteen riders followed Bilbao's lead. The names? Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Kim Heiduk (INEOS Grenadiers), Simone Pettili (Intermarché-Wanty), Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda (Movistar), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla), Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL), Davide Bais, Mattia Bais (Polti VisitMalta), Yannis Voisard (Tudor), Luca Covilli, Alessio Martinelli (VF Group), Cristian Scaroni, Fausto Masnada, and Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana).

With mountain jersey holder Fortunato in the breakaway, XDS-Astana naturally had an interest in getting to the front as quickly as possible. Masnada took the lead, and the six original breakaway riders were caught before the top of the first climb, where Fortunato could take the points. At that point, the peloton was six to seven minutes behind and took the descent leisurely. Martinelli proved that this was necessary at the front. The Italian slid under the guardrail on the slippery roads and had to get help from a rescue team to get back up. He lost consciousness for a moment but later regained consciousness.

There were also crashes in the peloton. Primoz Roglic crashed for the fourth time in this Giro d'Italia on behalf of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, and that was once too many for the Slovenian: he got into the car and disappeared from the Giro. Richard Carapaz also crashed for EF Education-EasyPost but was able to continue. A little later, Carlos Verona, winner of Sunday's stage for Lidl-Trek, also hit the ground.

The peloton waited a moment for the crashed riders, which Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates-XRG) took advantage of to change some clothes. Meanwhile, INEOS Grenadiers pushed on, forcing Ayuso to make up a minute and a half on his opponents in one go. He managed to do so with the help of his teammate and compatriot Igor Arrieta, but he lost some energy in the process.

In the downhill section Egan Bernal crashed, forcing INEOS to abandon the race and increasing the breakaway's lead from five to nine minutes. Before the very tough Santa Barbara-San Valentino combi, they were able to believe in the breakaway. Fortunato immediately accelerated at the foot to maximize his chances;

In the peloton, EF Education-EasyPost and INEOS Grenadiers were pushing hard, which cost both Ayuso and Arensman an early lead. With 7.7 kilometers left on the Santa Barbara, the penultimate col, both men had to pass and it would be a long agony to the finish;

One man's death is another man's gain. Surprisingly, the next rider to drop out was Bernal after an attack by Michael Storer (Tudor) and Picnic PostNL ace Max Poole. The Colombian managed to recover, which meant that INEOS Grenadiers' work in this Giro was not lost all at once. He joined the other favorites four minutes behind the remaining leaders at the top of the Santa Barbara, but they slowed down a little in the run-up to the final climb.

Voisard rode away at the front in the same descent, triggering the battle for the stage win, which also involved Bilbao, Fortunato, Scaroni, Leemreize, and Cepeda. In the end, the two XDS-Astana riders proved to be the strongest, along with Cepeda. The South American from Movistar was in trouble and could not compete with the duo, who rode away from him.

Van Aert took the lead for Yates in the chasing group, but the first attack came from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider Giulio Pellizzari. With 7.5 kilometers to go, he was followed by an acceleration from Yates, who immediately took Del Toro and Carapaz with him. The latter shot off like a comet a kilometer and a half later, leaving his competitors with no answer.

Carapaz rode away with a 45-second lead over Del Toro and Yates, who in turn had to let Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) go and saw Michael Storer (Tudor) come back. For Del Toro, it was too much with four kilometers to go, completing a disastrous day for UAE Emirates-XRG. The Mexican rider was saved somewhat by teammate Adam Yates, who was able to do some work from behind.

One thing was clear: the Giro was clearly turning in Carapaz's favor, who rode up the San Valentino like a madman. A good minute after the equally strong duo Scaroni-Fortunato, the man from Ecuador crossed the finish line. However, Pellizzari did manage to pull away from him in the final meters to take third place.