Giro D'Italia 2016: Stage 14 Results, Highlights and Standings After Saturday
Orica GreenEDGE's Esteban Chaves won Stage 14 of the 2016 Giro d'Italia on Saturday, beating LottoNL-Jumbo's Steven Kruijswijk in a sprint. The Dutchman is the new overall leader.
The peloton spent most of the day out of the saddle, facing a handful of difficult climbs, and as expected, some of the general classification favourites took a major hit.
Overnight leader Andrey Amador of Movistar lost minutes and the pink jersey, part of a dreadful day for the Spanish outfit. Alejandro Valverde was also dropped, and his bid to win the Giro appears to be over. Astana's Vincenzo Nibali cracked but limited the damage to keep his Giro bid alive.
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Here's a look at the results from Saturday's stage, per Sky Sports Cycling:
The latest overall standings:
Recap
Saturday's stage to Corvara was seen as this year's Queen stage, featuring six gruelling climbs and several more bumps in the road that were expected to tear the peloton apart early.
Organising the race was vital for the top teams, who sent some of their domestiques out early, hoping for a break that would lead to a higher pace in the peloton.
As shared by Daniel Lloyd of Global Cycling Network, it worked:
Astana and Lotto Soudal controlled the pace in the peloton, with the former in particular expected to be near the front of the main group throughout the day.
The main group split into two parts on the first climb, and the leading group included some big names, including Ruben Plaza of Orica GreenEDGE and Damiano Cunego of Nippo-Vini Fantini. None of the riders were a threat for the pink, however, with Diego Ulissi of Lampre-Merida sitting over five minutes back.
The gap quickly increased to six minutes, with Movistar and Astana controlling the pace in the peloton and preparing for the gruelling finale.
As shared by photographer Michael Blann, the peloton would climb exceptionally high on Saturday:
Former Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal (Trek-Segafredo) abandoned the race, ending his bid to finish in the top 15, as the pace increased in the peloton. Movistar lost a handful of domestiques, which was excellent news for Nibali.
Race leader Amador was quickly dropped on the Passo Giau, the toughest climb of the day, and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) soon suffered a similar fate.
At the front, three leaders tackled the final climb of the day, leading Nibali's group by almost four minutes. The three riders were Kanstantsin Siutsou (Dimension Data), Darwin Atapuma (BMC) and Georg Preidler (Giant-Elpecin). In the background, Amador returned to the group of favourites during the descent.
Nibali launched a devastating attack with 27 kilometres to go, and Movistar's Valverde was dropped immediately. Kruijswijk and Chaves joined Nibali, and the three immediately found each other.
Atapuma attacked from the leading group, but all eyes turned to the battle of the top contenders, where Kruijswijk shocked everyone by attacking and dropping Nibali.
Josh Donaldson of the Dorset Echo thought it was finally proof the Shark of Messina's form isn't as great as he hoped:
Kruijswijk and Chaves quickly put 10 seconds between themselves and Nibali, while Valverde lost well over a minute during the climb. At the summit, the gap between Atapuma and the chasers was 48 seconds, with Nibali trailing that group by half a minute.
Cycling blogger Mihai Cazacu watched as Valverde kept losing time, and he wasn't surprised:
In the descent, Nibali reduced the gap to his main rivals to 20 seconds, and he appeared to recover well. Atapuma's brave solo effort was over with less than two kilometres left to race, and the four leaders combined forces to keep the Italian away.
Chaves took the stage win in a sprint, fishing ahead of the new maglia rosa, Kruijswijk. Nibali finished 30 seconds behind the leading group and chases Kruijswijk by 41 seconds heading into Stage 15.
Per Cycling News' Peter Cossins, Kruijswijk didn't mind losing the sprint all that much, as he had his mind on the pink jersey:
"I knew I was with Esteban [Chaves], and for the sprint, I knew that he was very fast. I think I had in my mind to gain more time on my competitors for the GC and it worked out pretty good.
I felt really good all day. I knew that this kind of stage would suit me pretty good, after the first mountain stage we had yesterday. Today, I could attack and really had some good power. I was lucky that I had Esteban with me and we could work together. I’m happy to get the pink jersey.
"
Sunday's stage will be another Giro classic, a climbing time trial that should shake up the general classification. Described by Cycling News as “sadistic,” it features a nine-kilometre stretch with an average gradient of 8.3 per cent, which will require the riders to pace themselves and not tackle the climb too hard.
With two stages in the high mountains still to come, Sunday's stage will come too soon to crown an overall winner, but the favourites can't afford to lose too much time heading into the final week of this year's Giro.
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