Mexican rider Isaac Del Toro just barely maintained his Giro d’Italia lead during the gruelling 16th stage Tuesday, when 2019 champion Richard Carapaz of Ecuador was the big mover in the overall standings.
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, riding for the Israel-Premier Tech team, has improved since Stage 12. He placed fifth on Tuesday to move to fourth in the overall standings in his second Giro d’Italia after a breakthrough 2023 performance when Gee was second four times and fourth twice.
Gee entered this year’s competition after becoming an overall multi-race stage champion for the first time in his career.
He captured the O Gran Camino road race in Spain on March 2 for the first overall stage race victory of his career, a 35-second edge over Italy’s Davide Piganzoli. Gee finished with three top-10 stage results, including a first, second and 10th. At the seven-stage Tirreno-Adriatico, he was fourth overall with two sixth-place results.
The 27-year-old last led a race at the Criterium du Dauphine last June in France, spending one day in the yellow jersey coincided with an individual time trial. He finished third overall.
At the Tour de France, Gee was ninth with four top-10 showings, including a third in Stage 9.
He went on to finish 44th in last summer’s Olympic road race in Paris and was the top Canadian in the individual time trial, placing 20th.
Post-Olympics, Gee was 22nd in the individual time trial at the road world championships in Zurich. He did not finish the road race.
Meanwhile, when Carapaz, who also won gold at the 2021 Olympics, attacked on the finishing climb in the Dolomites, Del Toro had no response.
‘I didn’t have the best legs’
Del Toro’s lead was reduced to 26 seconds ahead of British rider Simon Yates and 31 seconds ahead of Carapaz.
“In end I didn’t have the best legs. They weren’t bad but they weren’t sufficient. I was happy to make it to the finish,” Del Toro said Tuesday. “I hope it goes better the next few days.”
Del Toro, who was wearing pink for the seventh consecutive stage, lost nearly two minutes to Carapaz, who soloed to victory at the end of the 11th stage when Del Toro became the first Mexican leader in Giro history.
It was a rough day for Del Toro’s UAE Team Emirates squad, since Juan Ayuso, who was third overall, was dropped on the third of four climbs.
Pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic, the 2023 champion, abandoned after crashing on a slippery road midway through the stage. He stood 10th overall after dropping five places on Sunday.
Christian Scaroni became the first Italian rider to win a stage in this year’s race after getting into an early breakaway. He crossed the line holding hands with another Italian, Astana teammate Lorenzo Fortunato, but was slightly ahead.
The 203 km leg from Piazzola Sul Brenta to San Valentino was made more treacherous by rain early on.
The finishing climb lasted 18.2 km and featured a section with a 12 per cent gradient in the finale.
Italian rider Alessio Martinelli was hospitalized after sliding into a ravine. The VG Group Bardiani-CSF Faizane team said Martinelli was “conscious and in stable condition.” He was carried up from the ravine on a stretcher attached to a rope by an alpine rescue team.
Stage 17 on Wednesday is a 155 km leg from San Michele All’Adige to Bormio featuring three climbs, including the Mortirolo, one of the Giro’s toughest and most famous climbs.
The Giro ends in Rome on Sunday.