Following Monday’s third rest day of this year’s Giro, the 2025 Giro d’Italia continued Tuesday with stage 16 – a very challenging 203-kilometer mountain stage that featured three category 1 climbs (Candriai, Santa Barbara, and San Valentino) and one category 2 climb (Carbonare) on a route from Piazzola sul Brenta to San Valentino Brentonico. 

The climbers and general classification favorites were expected to deliver their absolute best performances to impress on the mountain roads of Italy. Several teams were still eagerly seeking stage victories and some GC favorites – including Primoz Roglic (Team Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers) had repair work to do after having incurred time losses in the previous stages. Additionally, a battle was rumored to be going on inside UAE Team Emirates between team captain Juan Ayuso and general classification leader Isaac del Toro.

The weather conditions at the start line of stage 16 in Piazzola sul Brenta were rainy, overcast and chilly and the riders were eager for the race to start, so the riders could warm up their bodies on their bikes.

It did not take long before a six-man breakaway group had been established, which featured Irish National Champion Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Josef Cerny (Soudal-QuickStep), Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ), Xabier Azparren (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), and Jon Barrenetxea (Movistar Team).

Joshua Tarling crashed heavily in a roundabout with 179 kilometers of the stage remaining. The wet roads were very slippery, and it was clear the Ineos-Grenadiers rider was suffering and would sadly have to exit this year’s Giro. Great Britain’s Joshua Tarling had won one Giro stage and had continuously shown great initiative in the Grand Tour and animated the race.

More riders, including points classification leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Paul Double (Jayco-Alula), and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) were launching attacks while hoping to be able to bridge the gap to the front group, which had a lead of one minute with 168 kilometers remaining.

The riders approached the Carbonare climb in heavy rain. After having enjoyed a more relaxing rest day in fine weather conditions, the cyclists and their bodies were now exposed to the elements in an unwanted fashion. Most riders disliked heavy rain, and in a stage featuring four categorized climbs, the downhill stretches from the mountains could potentially take their toll on the professional cycling peloton.

UAE Team Emirates moved to the front of the main peloton with 145 kilometers left and its clearly signaled they wanted to put a stop to all further breakaway attempts. 

Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) refused to obey orders and launched an attack. He was joined by several other riders, and they broke free from the main peloton shortly before they reached the Carbonare climb. The group included Bilbao, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty), Kim Heiduk (Ineos-Grenadiers), Simon Guglielmi (Arkea B & B Hotels), Jefferson Cepeda (Movistar Team), Gijs Leemreize (Team Picnic-PostNL), Davide and Mattia Bais (Polti-VisitMalta), Lorenzo Fortunato, Fausto Masnada, and Cristian Scaroni.

While climbing the Carbonare, the riders entered the province of Vicenza in the Veneto region. The front group had a lead of 45 seconds over the chase group and was 06:36 minutes ahead of the main peloton when two kilometers from the top of the Category 2 climb.

Alessio Martinelli crashed while descending from the Carbonare climb as did Richard Carapaz. Martinelli was taken to the hospital. Meanwhile, the two front groups merged before they reached the Candriai, which was the first Category 1 climb of the stage. The peloton was more than eight minutes behind the front group at the bottom of the climb, which had an average gradient of 7.5 percent over ten kilometers. Sections were more than nine percent. 

Primoz Roglic had sadly also crashed on the downhill stretch. It was the team captain’s fifth crash in this year’s Giro, and he was now forced to abandon the Giro due to injuries sustained. What a blow for his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team.

Ineos-Grenadiers riders moved to the front of the main peloton on the Candriai climb and thereby again showed great initiative when it came to animating the race. Egan Bernal had unfinished business in the Giro. 

UAE Team Emirates captain Juan Ayuso surprisingly appeared to have been dropped from the main peloton on the Candriai. The fast speed set by the Ineos-Grenadiers riders at the front of the main peloton was taking its toll on the Spaniard and other GC favorites.

The front group reached the summit of Candriai where Lorenzo Fortunato won the most points for the best climber classification. The riders entered the downhill stretch.

Egan Bernal crashed on his Pinarello Dogma bike on the descent, but fortunately it did not take long before he was back on his bike. As the rain had stopped and the skies were clearing up, Bernal had been his rain jacket when crashing.

The breakaway group got split on the uncategorized Cavedine climb while the riders passed through the Riserva Naturale Provinciale Marocche di Dro, which is a protected nature area that is famous for its unique geological formations. The hills and mountains feature towers and other fortifications, where local residents could seek refuge when wars were fought in former times.

The front group entered the Santa Barbara, which was the penultimate climb of the stage. The Category 1 climb was more than 12 kilometers long and featured an average gradient of more than eight percent. Always impatient Lorenzo Fortunato immediately moved to the front to show his blue jersey as he was the leader of the best climber classification.

Richard Carapaz sent his loyal troops to the front of the main peloton when Santa Barbara was reached. While the cyclists in the Giro were struggling on the climb, tourists and locals were enjoying the sun above the nearby Lake Garda.

Despite the hard work from the EF Education riders, the front group, which had split into two, was still more than seven minutes ahead of the main peloton. Perhaps the main purpose of the EF riders was to test the condition of the GC classification competitors. Juan Ayuso was far back in the peloton and had shown signs of weakness during the stage.

Thymen Arensman and Juan Ayuso both got dropped from the peloton though more than eight kilometers remained of the climb. Tudor Pro Cycling Team moved to the front of the main peloton to increase the pace as the team was eying the chance of riding team captain Michael Storer into the top 10 of the GC. Egan Bernal got dropped. Meanwhile, seve men were in the first breakaway group.

Three kilometers of the Santa Barbara climb remained, and the riders were now 38 kilometers from the finish line at the summit of Passo di San Valentino. The first breakaway group was five minutes ahead of the second breakaway group, while the GC favorites peloton group was 05:20 minutes back. Previous GC favorites such as Juan Ayuso, Egan Bernal, and Thymen Arensman had all been left behind by the other GC riders.

Fortunato was the first rider to reach the summit of Santa Barbara. A fast and dangerous descent now awaited the seven breakaway frontmen, before they would hit the final Category 1 climb of San Valentino, where the stage winner would be found.

Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and Max Poole (Picnic-PostNL) had attacked solo from the GC favorites peloton and were now chasing the frontmen while hoping to form an advantage, which would help them advance in the GC.

Perhaps inspired by team captain Storer’s attack further back, Yannis Voisard attacked from the front group on the downhill stretch. Voisard used every turn and curve to his advantage and was an equilibrist on his BMC bike.

Voisard was the first rider to reach the Passo di San Valentino climb, which would take the riders to the finish line of today’s stage 16 of Giro d’Italia 2025. The Category 1 climb was long and challenging.

While Voisard was being chased by Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda (Movistar), Fortunato, and Scaroni at the front of the race, Richard Carapaz instructed his lieutenants to move to the front of the GC favorites group to increase the pace. EF Education-EasyPost riders initiated the hard work, while Wout van Aert joined in for his team captain Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda, Fortunato, and Scaroni caught Voisard when thirteen kilometers remained. The young Swiss rider found it hard to hang onto the trio and got dropped one kilometer later.

Further back the general classification favorites group had been reduced to approximately ten men. Rafal Majka was setting the pace in the group in support of GC leader Isaac del Toro, while other GC favorites such as Simon Yates, Egan Bernal, Richard Carapaz, and Antonio Tiberi were closely monitoring the situation, hoping to spot any weakness with any competitors.

Christian Scaroni attacked from the front breakaway trio and Movistar’s Jefferson Cepeda tried to counter. Fortunato stayed behind Cepeda and made him use his energy. Fortunato then left Cepeda behind and made the leap to teammate Scaroni. The duo was now eight kilometers from the San Valentino finish line.

Simon Yates attacked from the GC group and del Toro and Carapaz both responded and joined the rider from Great Britain. Apart from Derek Gee, the other remaining GC favorites were finding it difficult to make the leap to the trio.

Carapaz attacked solo from the GC group. Derek Gee tried to respond. Carapaz formed a significant gap. Six kilometers remained. Carapaz was making his EF Education-EasyPost sponsors proud on his Cannondale bike and was looking both strong and good in his pink and white team colors.

Carapaz formed a lead of more than forty seconds over del Toro, Simon Yates, Michael Storer, and Derek Gee. Meanwhile, up the road Fortunato was racing towards the finish line together with teammate Scaroni. Who would take the stage win? 

While Carapaz was increasing his advantage over the other GC favorites, Isaac del Toro surprisingly got dropped by Simon Yates and Michael Storer. Would del Toro be wearing the pink jersey again tomorrow as leader of the general classification?

Carapaz caught Leemreize and Pellizzari from the early breakaway. The rider from Ecuador was showing impressive form on the San Valentino climb. He had won the Giro in 2019 – would he finally prevail again in this year’s edition of the legendary Grand Tour?

Del Toro was still dropping valuable time further back. He joined forces with Egan Bernal, who had been far behind. 

Carapaz was now 01:36 minutes behind the breakaway riders when one kilometer of the stage remained. The Yates group was almost one minute behind him. He would advance significantly in the GC after today’s stage.

Further up the road Christian Scaroni proved the strongest man on the San Valentino climb and crossed the finish line in 05:35:05 as winner of stage 16 of Giro d’Italia 2025 ahead of teammate Lorenzo Fortunato. Giulio Pellizzari completed the stage podium for Team Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

Richard Carapaz was the fourth rider to cross the finish line. The EF Education-EasyPost team captain reached the finish 01:10 minutes after the stage winner and gained valuable time on his general classification competitors in today’s stage after a brave and impressive solo effort on the final climb. 

Derek Gee was the fifth rider to complete the stage, while Michael Storer finished seventh. Simon Yates finished eighth, 01:52 minutes behind the winner, while Egan Bernal was eleventh, 02:31 minutes back. Isaac del Toro reached the finish 02:46 minutes behind stage winner Scaroni, while Adam Yates was fourteenth and Antonio Tiberi fifteenth. 

Isaac del Toro lost valuable time in today’s stage 16, but the Mexican UAE Team Emirates rider remains general classification leader in this year’s Giro. Del Toro is now 26 seconds ahead of Simon Yates and 31 seconds ahead of Richard Carapaz in the GC. Egan Bernal is sixth, Storer seventh, Tiberi eighth, while Adam Yates completes the GC top ten. Brandon McNulty is fourteenth and Thomas Pidcock sixteenth, 08:35 minutes back.

The 2025 Giro d’Italia will continue Wednesday with stage 17 – the first Grand Tour of the season will continue in mountainous terrain on a condensed 155-kilometer route from San Michele all Adige to Bormio.

Stage 17 will feature one Category 1 climb, one Category 2 climb, and one Category 3 climb, but will conclude with a short downhill section to the finish line in Bormio. Look for some general classification favorites to impress on the mountain roads of Italy and for other GC favorites to falter, while breakaway hopefuls engage in quests for a memorable stage victory as the Giro approaches its final stages and conclusion on Sunday.

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