Giro d'Italia 2022 Stage 16

Carapaz's grasp on maglia rosa down to three seconds over Hindley.

Hirt then attacked and left Carthy and Valverde as the steep stuff started on the second half of the ascent. Kamna took a lead of 30 seconds onto the climb and took it out to almost a minute, appearing on course for a second stage win at this Giro. Meanwhile, Poels was called back from the lead group to work in the GC group behind. The final climb of the Calico di Santa Cristina measured 13.5km at 8%, with the steeper stuff coming in the second half. Bouwman was dropped early on the uncategorised climb, which was still steep with plenty of double-digit gradients and an average of 8.2% over 5.6km. Bouwman was soon dropped as Carthy dictated the tempo, before Kamna led over the top with 30km to go to collect three bonus seconds ahead of Valverde and Arensman, who took two and one respectively. In between was an expanded group of seven breakaway remnants but they only drifted further back towards the bunch. Among them were four Ineos riders, giving Carapaz five teammates who once again took control on the flatter terrain. On the Passo del Mortirolo (12.6km at 7.2%), the breakaway started to reshuffle once more. Up front were Arensman, Hamilton, Valverde, Bouwman, Cataldo, Rota, Kamna, Poels, and they opened a lead of a minute as arms we waved behind. Zana got back in but Bais misjudged a corner in his slipstream and crashed, before being joined by Kelderman when the Dutchman suffered a mechanical. The gap went out to 90 seconds as things settled into more of a pattern on the first half of the climb. The first breakaway group contained an unusual figure in Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), who was simply looking to give himself some sliding room on a day when making the time cut was his only real ambition. Despite a standing start at kilometre-zero, the race burst to life instantly and barely settled down thereafter.

Jan Hirt won the 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia, as the race headed into the mountains in its final week.

“I wanted to try to do something nice today,” said Hirt. “Every time I hear Mortirolo I want to anticipate. “It’s been a hard stage and at the end I’m happy. “Then in the end on the last climb I had a problem with my bike, it was not shifting properly and the chain was jumping.

Jan Hirt claimed the first grand tour stage win of his career on a gruelling day in the mountains as Richard Carapaz saw his overall lead at the Giro ...

The descent from the Valico di Santa Cristina to the ‑1,500m marker is highly technical, on narrow road and with sharp gradients. Wilco Kelderman was forced to sit up and take a wheel from neutral service and has subsequently lost contact with the breakaway. On each corner he loses a few metres, meaning that on each corner he needs to use more energy than he ought to be. Dario Cataldo has pulled the pin, he appears to have done his work for the day. Vincenzo Nibali is floating around, but is he going to attack? Giulio Ciccone rises out of his saddle, and similarly to Sunday's stage is showing his cards very early. Alejandro Valverde would become the oldest winner of a Giro d'Italia stage if he were to prevail today and the 42-year-old is looking relatively fresh. A few spots of rain are starting to fall. It looks as if the rangy rider from Preston is testing the rest of the leading group, gently turning the screw to see if anybody snaps. Back near the front of the race, Jan Hirt has bridged over to Thymen Arensman, the trio just a handful of seconds behind Lennard Kämna. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Qazaqstan) finished in ninth spot, but moved up to fifth on general classification. As a result, Hindley closed the gap on overall leader Carapaz to just 3sec.

Richard Carapaz continues in the race lead as we hit the business end of the Giro d'Italia but his lead is a slender one, with Jai Hindley on his heels.

170km to go: The duo have managed to open up a small gap on the pack. The six leaders still have 55 seconds to play with ahead of the first climb. 160km to go: More riders have managed to join this large gap - and Bora mean business by sending Kelderman up the road with Kamna, while Yates is there pushing for his third stage win. This will play into the hands of the chasing duo of Kelderman and Bais, who still need to close a gap of 45 seconds. 83km to go: The second part of the break has exploded under an acceleration from Carthy and Ciccone, who ride clear with Jan Hirt. Martin and Kelderman are in pursuit but Yates appears to be struggling. 75km to go: Hirt and Carthy have joined Poels, Kamna, Bouwman, Valverde, Arensman and Hamilton. They have 30 seconds on Ciccone and so it's looking good for the Dutchman Bouwman as he looks to extend his lead in the blue jersey classification. 58km to go: It may be that the Sicilian decided to knock it off and wait for the chasers but either way he's forced a shake-up among the race favourites. 32km to go: After putting in a shift and a half for Team DSM teammate Thymen Arensman, Chris Hamilton has been caught by the peloton. 14km to go: The Spaniard enjoyed 10 days in pink but could be dropping out the top 10 today after being shelled out of the group of GC favourites. 11.5km to go: It's a bitter-sweet moment for Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert too as Jan Hirt kicks clear of Valverde and Carthy with a huge acceleration while, behind, his teammate Pozzovivo is being distanced by the favourites. 8.5km to go: Hirt and Arensman reel in Kamna before riding clear on a section where they're forced to weave their way up the steep slope. It's a sprint royale for the final bonus seconds as Jai Hindley surges clear before being pegged back by Richard Carapaz ahead of the line - and that was too close to call...

On the final climb, what was left of the escape blew apart leaving Jan Hirt to drop Thymen Arensman before the summit and solo to the finish.

Since moving to Spain and finding out how to use a computer, he has gone from contributor of Daily Distractions at the 2002 Vuelta a España to editor at PezCyclingNews. With a lead of about 15 seconds, the Czech started the descent to Aprica, which was on wet roads. Domenico Pozzovivo crashed on the winding roads, but the Italian was able to get back up quickly and continue. At 8 kilometres from the finish, Hirt and Arensman caught Kämna. Carthy and Hirt, were able to make the jump on the famous mountain climb. Ciccone turned out not to be as good as on the first climb and had to let go. In the battle for the mountains classification, the blue jersey had an important opponent in Ciccone. The Italian beat the Dutchman on the first climb and scored 40 points. On the final climb, what was left of the escape blew apart leaving Hirt to drop Arensman before the summit and solo to the finish. Sonny Colbrelli was at the start. Final kilometres The descent from the Valico di Santa Cristina to the 1,500m marker is highly technical, on narrow roads and with sharp gradients. A technical descent, leading to Grosio, follows on a narrow road (quite steep at points). After a flat stretch, the route goes up again, heading for Teglio on narrow roadway, with gradients exceeding 15% at points. Giro Stage 16 Race Report: Jan Hirt and Thymen Arensman were the last men standing from the break of the day.