The 2016 Giro d'Italia was the 99th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The Giro started in Apeldoorn on 6 May with a individual time trial, followed by two other stages in the Netherlands, both between Nijmegen and Arnhem. After a rest day, there were 18 further stages to reach the finish on 29 May. These stages were principally in Italy, although two stages partly took place in France.
The overall winner was Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali of team Astana, who won his second Giro.
Teams
All 18 UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited and were obliged to attend the race. The first wildcard invitation was secured at the end of the 2015 cycling season by . While riding as , they won the season-long Coppa Italia series; the winners of the series are automatically awarded an entry into the following year's Giro d'Italia. Two of the remaining three wildcard places were awarded to Italian teams ( and ); the final place was awarded to the Russian team . There were therefore 22 teams in the Giro, each of which consisted of nine riders; there are therefore 198 riders in the peloton at the beginning of the race.
Pre-race favorites Pre-race favorites were Vincenzo Nibali, Mikel Landa, Alejandro Valverde, Ilnur Zakarin, Rigoberto Urán, Rafał Majka, Tom Dumoulin, Domenico Pozzovivo, Jakob Fuglsang.
Route and stages
Details about the start of the Giro were unveiled on 26 June 2015. It was confirmed that the Netherlands would hold its third (Big Start) of the Giro, having previously hosted the opening stages of the 2002 and 2010 editions. The stages in the Netherlands will include an individual time trial on the opening day, followed by two road stages suitable for sprinters; to allow for the long transfer, there will be a rest day after the third stage. Stage 9, a individual time trial, was announced at a press conference in London on 7 September 2015 and the mountainous Stage 13 was confirmed at a press conference on 21 September 2015. The remainder of the route was unveiled by the race director, Mauro Vegni, on 5 October 2015. After the three stages in the Netherlands, the race moves to Calabria in the south of Italy. The route generally takes the riders north, frequently visiting the Apennines, with stages in the mountains of Friuli and the Dolomites coming later in the race. The final and most difficult part of the Giro comes in the final week, with stages in the Alps.
After a series of moderately hilly stages, the first summit finish comes at the end of Stage 6. It is followed by two more hilly stages, the second of which includes a (dirt) climb in the final . The ninth stage is expected to be one of the most important for deciding the overall winner of the race: it is a individual time trial through the Chianti region. The second rest day followed the time trial. After the rest day, Stage 10 includes the second summit finish of the race – although it was only a third-category climb – which came at the end of a very hilly second half of the stage. After two fairly flat stages, the race again enters the mountains towards the end of the second week, with the difficult Stage 13 ending with two mountains shortly before the finish in Cividale del Friuli. The second weekend takes place in the Dolomites: Stage 14 includes six major climbs, while Stage 15 is a mountain time trial to Alpe di Siusi. After the final rest day, the third week of the Giro begins with a rolling stage that includes a climb in the final , then two more fairly flat days. Stages 19 and 20 again take the riders into the high mountains: Stage 19 finishes on the climb of Risoul in France, then Stage 20 includes three first-category climbs on the way to another summit finish. The final stage takes place over a sprinter-friendly circuit in Turin.
After the start in the Netherlands, the Stages 19 and 20 leave Italy and visit France. In comparison with the previous year's race, the race was shorter; it contained one more rest day and two more individual time trials. Unlike the previous edition, there was no team time trial. +List of stages Stage Date Course DistanceType Winner16 May Apeldoorn (Netherlands) Individual time trial 27 May Arnhem (Netherlands) – Nijmegen (Netherlands) Flat stage 38 May Nijmegen (Netherlands) – Arnhem (Netherlands) Flat stage 9 May Rest day410 May Catanzaro – Praia a Mare Medium-mountain stage511 May Praia a Mare – Benevento Hilly stage612 May Ponte – Roccaraso Medium-mountain stage713 May Sulmona – Foligno Hilly stage814 May Foligno – Arezzo Medium-mountain stage915 May Chianti Classico StageRadda in Chianti – Greve in Chianti Individual time trial16 May Rest day1017 May Campi Bisenzio – Sestola Medium-mountain stage1118 May Modena – Asolo Medium-mountain stage1219 May Noale – Bibione Flat stage1320 May Palmanova – Cividale del Friuli Medium-mountain stage1421 May Alpago (Farra) – Corvara (Alta Badia) Mountain stage1522 May Castelrotto/Kastelruth – Alpe di Siusi/Seiser Alm Mountain time trial23 MayRest day1624 May Bressanone/Brixen – Andalo Medium-mountain stage1725 May Molveno – Cassano d'Adda Flat stage1826 May Muggiò – Pinerolo Medium-mountain stage1927 May Pinerolo – Risoul (France) Mountain stage2028 May Guillestre (France) – Sant'Anna di Vinadio Mountain stage2129 May Cuneo – Turin Flat stage
Race overview
The race began with an individual time trial in Apeldoorn. Fabian Cancellara was the favourite, aiming to become the leader of the Giro for the first time in his career. But a stomach bug left him eighth on the stage, and instead, home rider Tom Dumoulin powered through to win. He had the same time as second placed Primož Roglič, while Costa Rican rider, Andrey Amador, came in third, six seconds behind. Ultimately, the Dutchman took honours and collected the first Maglia Rosa of the race. The next two stages in the Netherlands, held between Nijmegen and Arnhem, were both won by Marcel Kittel. Having lost 11 seconds in the opening time trial, the two ten second time bonuses gave the German the pink jersey after the third stage.
After an early rest day, the race resumed in the south of Italy, with a hilly affair. Diego Ulissi took stage honours, after attacking on the final third category climb. Kittel was dropped on the same ascent and, together with Dumoulin's finish in second place, meant that the Dutchman regained the Maglia Rosa. Stage 5 was flat, and won by André Greipel. The sixth stage, however, was seen as an important one – it was the first summit finish of the Giro, in Roccaraso. It was won by Tim Wellens, who joined the successful breakaway partway through the stage. Amongst the GC contenders, Dumoulin gained approximately ten seconds over his rivals, and secured himself in the Maglia Rosa. Vincenzo Nibali lost seconds, due to bad team tactics from . Greipel took stage 7, 's third consecutive victory.
Stage 8 featured the (dirt) climb of Alpe di Poti. Gianluca Brambilla took the victory in Arezzo. However, behind him, a battle amongst the general classification favourites commenced. Dumoulin was dropped, and lost a minute to the other favourites while Brambilla's advantage was sufficient to give him the pink jersey, the first Italian to wear it during the 2016 Giro. The next stage, the Chianti Classico Stage, was won by Roglič; his first ever victory in a Grand tour stage. The stage was held in falling rain, and this influenced the times of the GC favourites. Bob Jungels moved behind Brambilla, but failed to take the jersey, thanks to a one-second difference. Mikel Landa also moved forward in the general classification despite being expected to lose time. Stage 10 was the second summit finish, in Sestola, and was won by Giulio Ciccone. Landa climbed off after suffering from fever while Brambilla sacrificed his maglia rosa to work for his teammate, Jungels, who proceeded to take the maglia rosa at the day's end. Stage 11 was a fairly flat stage but there was a late fourth category climb where moves were expected to be made. Dumoulin, suffering from saddle sores, departed the Giro at the stage's feed zone while Amador attacked the favourites with 13 kilometers to go. Maglia rosa wearer, Jungels, tracked his move while Ulissi came back on the descent. The trio worked together to stay away with Ulissi winning the stage in the sprint while Jungels extended his lead further. The next stage was a flat stage, with Greipel winning his third stage in the race. Greipel, along with some sprinters, withdrew from the race after the stage.
The next few stages before the third rest day were expected to be crucial in terms of the GC. Stage 13 was won by Mikel Nieve of while Jungels was dropped on the final ascent. Amador was also dropped briefly on the climb before coming back on the descent, taking the maglia rosa in the process as Jungels lost 50 seconds. Stage 14 was the queen stage of the race, featuring six categorized climbs before the descent to Corvara. Esteban Chaves took the stage honors after outsprinting Steven Kruijswijk, who took the maglia rosa, and Georg Preidler. Nibali lit up the fight for the GC on the final climb to Valparola, attacking with 27 kilometers to go. His attack dropped Amador and Alejandro Valverde, who both lost three minutes on the stage. Kruijswijk would attack close to the summit, with Chaves, after dropping Nibali, the only rider to keep up with him. Nibali lost more than half a minute after the stage. Stage 15 was the third individual time trial of the race, featuring the ascent to Alpe di Siusi. Alexander Foliforov surprised the GC favorites to win the stage, narrowly beating Kruijswijk by around a hundredth of a second. Kruijswijk extended his lead to more than two minutes over second-placed Chaves as Nibali suffered a mechanical on the climb, losing more than two minutes in the process. Stage 16 was a short stage which was won by Valverde, who outsprinted Kruijswijk on the line. Kruijswijk extended his lead in the general classification to three minutes as Chaves lost 42 seconds while Nibali cracked on the last climb. He lost almost two minutes to drop to fourth overall, almost five minutes down. Stage 17 was a pan flat stage, with Roger Kluge of winning after surprising the remaining sprinters with an attack in the final kilometer. The win happened two days after his team announced its folding at the end of the season.