May 26/26 20:11 pm - Gee Moves to 6th after Giro Stage 16

Posted by Editoress on 05/26/26
 

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) fortified his dominance by winning the 16th stage, a 113-kilometre route between Bellinzona and Carì, with a devastating attack 6.6 kilometres from the finish. The Dane secured his fourth stage victory in this edition, broke the record for the final climb, and extended his lead in the general classification.

The Corsa Rosa once again asserted his authority in the mountains after the rest day. Vingegaard attacked on the steep slopes of Carì, a first-category climb of 11.6 kilometres of 8%, dropping Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM) first and ultimately crossing the finish line in a time of 2:57:40.

Gall finished second at 1:09, and Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora) completed the stage podium at 1:11. Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos) finished fourth at 1:14, while Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) was fifth at 1:18.

With this latest victory in the mountains, Jonas Vingegaard has put himself firmly in control of the Giro d'Italia. The Dane now leads the general classification by 4:03 over Felix Gall, 4:27 over Thymen Arensman, and 5:00 over Jai Hindley. Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious), who finished 3:04 behind in Carì, drops to fifth place, 5:40 back.

Ciccone, Rubio, and Harper liven up the stage.
The short but very demanding stage featured 2,928 metres of elevation gain and five categorized climbs in Switzerland.

The attacks began from the start. Jardi Christiaan van der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), Johan Jacobs (Groupama-FDJ United), and Tim Naberman (Picnic-PostNL) were among the first to attack, although the peloton quickly neutralized these attempts.

A large breakaway then formed, including Manuele Tarozzi, Markel Beloki, Johan Jacobs, Tim Torn Teutenberg, Simone Gualdi, Nelson Oliveira, Christopher Juul-Jensen, Frank van den Broek, Ludovico Crescioli, António Morgado, and Diego Ulissi. The race became lively again with attacks from the peloton, including one by Igor Arrieta (UAE Emirates-XRG), before Visma-Lease a Bike took control.

Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) was the star of the early climbs. The Italian crested the first ascent of Torre in the lead, ahead of Einer Rubio (Movistar), Chris Harper, and Frank van den Broek. He also crossed the finish line first in Leontica and repeated the feat on the second ascent of Torre, accumulating valuable points for the mountains classification.

Einer Rubio was also very active during the stage. The Colombian from Movistar stayed in the leading group alongside Ciccone, Harper, and Jhonatan Narváez, while the peloton, led by Visma-Lease a Bike, kept the breakaway under control.

Harper is alone before Carì
In the intermediate sprint in Ludiano, Narváez crossed the line first ahead of Rubio, Harper, Ciccone, and Ulissi. With 34 kilometres to go, the leading group consisted of Ciccone, Rubio, Harper, and Narváez, with Ulissi at 1:06 and the peloton at 1:52.

The breakaway continued to split before the final climb. Narváez dropped off 19 kilometres from the finish, and Ciccone was dropped shortly after. Harper attacked 13 kilometres from the finish and went solo, entering the final ascent to Carì first.

The Australian rider from Pinarello-Q36.5 passed the Red Bull Kilometre in Faido first and earned six bonus seconds. Rubio was second and gained four seconds, while Filippo Magli (Bardiani-CSF-7Saber) passed third and added two seconds.

Harper's adventure ended on the early slopes of Carì. Red Bull-Bora took control at the foot of the climb with four riders, but the pace began to take its toll on the GC contenders. Giulio Pellizzari dropped back 10 kilometres from the finish, and shortly after, Afonso Eulálio and Ben O'Connor also fell behind.

Vingegaard attacks again
With 9.1 kilometres to go, Eulálio and O'Connor had already lost contact with the peloton. Ahead of them were around 16 riders, with Felix Gall, Egan Bernal, Thymen Arensman, Jai Hindley, Jonas Vingegaard, Sepp Kuss, Davide Piganzoli, Mathys Rondel, and Derek Gee-West among the strongest.

Visma-Lease a Bike set the pace with Victor Campenaerts and Davide Piganzoli. With 6.6 kilometres to go, Vingegaard launched the decisive attack. Gall initially followed his wheel, but could only stay with him for a few metres. The Dane then broke away and quickly opened up a gap.

With 4.2 kilometres to go, Vingegaard had a 55-second lead over the chasing group. Behind him, Egan Bernal took up the chase, and Arensman accelerated 1.6 kilometre from the summit, with Gall and Hindley responding.

Vingegaard crossed the finish line solo in Carì, securing his 52nd professional victory and his fourth of this Giro d'Italia. Gall secured second place, and Hindley finished third, on a day that further consolidated the Dane's dominance in the race.

The best-placed Canadian was Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) in 5th  at 1:18  back. Gee-West moves up to 6th in the GC at 7:09 back.

Giro d'Italia Stage 1
New Leader at Giro after Stage 2
Giro d'Italia Stage 3
Giro d'Italia Stage 4: New leader
Giro d'Italia Stage 5, another new leader
Giro d'Italia Stage 6

Gee Moves into top 15 after Giro Stage 7

Giro d'Italia Stage 8

Giro Stage 9

Derek Gee-West Interview at the End of Week 1 of the Giro

Giro d'Italia Stage 10, Gee into top 10

Giro d'Italia Stage 11
Giro Stage 12

Giro d'Italia Stage 13
Giro Stage 14

Giro d'Italia Stage 15