A time trial for the climbers, there wasn’t an aero bike nor aero helmet to be seen today, and other than the occasional skinsuit to reduce wind resistance, there was no sign that a time trial – in the most traditional sense – was taking place. Passing through the intermediate time check looking strong, Rafal Majka finished the stage in tenth position, and his strong climb enabled him to move one step further up the GC rankings, going into Tuesday’s mountain stage fifth in the overall.
After yesterday’s Queen Stage and its energy-sapping route, riders would be looking forward to tomorrow’s rest day to try and recover some kind of strength to contest the final week, but with one final hurdle to overcome before this, there was no rest for anyone.
It was uphill all the way, on a 10.85km course that climbed from Castelrotto to the top of the Alpe di Siusi, a short distance from the Austrian border in the South Tirol region. With an average 8.3% and a maximum 11% gradient, this would once again be a tough day in the mountains for riders. While the route took place on well-surfaced and wide-open roads, it was the hairpin bends and steep ramps that would take the most out of riders.
As Sport Director, Tristan Hoffman, noted from the finish. “It was a tough course out there, with a false flat to start for a few kilometres before the real climbing started. In and out of the saddle it was full gas from start to finish.”
As the first riders set out on the course, the top ten of the GC would be waiting to see how the field was performing with the tired legs of yesterday’s stage. As the times started to come in, it became clear that the time to beat was going to be sub-thirty minutes. With more than a minute separating the virtual top ten, as the GC leaders went out of the start, they knew that a good time could help them in the overall standings, while a poor time might make it almost impossible to pull back in the final week. By the time the Maglia Rosa knew how his rivals had performed, it would be too late to make much of an impact on their performance.
After a strong effort, Tinkoff’s Polish leader crossed the line with a time of 29’48” – a time that, once all the riders were home, was enough to earn him a top ten finish on the stage. His performance also moved him up a step on the GC, taking fifth position overall. After his fast time and strong finishing position, Rafal was definitely looking forward to the rest day. “It was a tough stage today and I just gave everything I could, but suffered. It has been a few hard days and the rest day comes at a good time tomorrow. There are still a lot of opportunities ahead and it was good to climb another spot on GC today.”
Hoffman added to Rafal’s comments. “As expected the outcome of today was quite like yesterday, some of the GC guys were faster, some slower, but Rafal rode a good time trial and gave it everything he had. Tomorrow we’ve got the rest day, which is coming at a good time I think for the guys, as it has been a tough few days, then the race hits the mountains again on Tuesday and we’ll be ready to go again.”
After three tough days in the mountains, riders will be looking forward to a well-earned rest day tomorrow, but the racing starts again on Tuesday as the Giro enters its final week. With another trip to the mountains, riders will face a shorter stage, at 132km, but a testing one, as the stage crosses two categorised climbs – including the second category Passo della Mendola – before the third category climb to the finish in Andalo.
Stage Result
1. Alexander Foliforov (RUS) Gazprom-Rusvelo 00:28:39
2. Steven Kruijswijk (NED) Team LottoNL-Jumbo +00:00:00
3. Alejandro Valverde (SPA) Movistar Team +00:00:23
4. Sergey Firsanov (RUS) Gazprom-Rusvelo +00:00:30
5. Michele Scarponi (ITA) Astana Pro Team +00:00:36
10. Rafal Majka (POL) Tinkoff +00:02:29
54. Pawel Poljanski (POL) Tinkoff +00:03:20
73. Jesus Hernandez (SPA) Tinkoff +00:04:06
84. Manuele Boaro (ITA) Tinkoff +00:04:28
88. Evgeny Petrov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:04:32
110. Pavel Brutt (RUS) Tinkoff +00:05:03
113. Ivan Rovny (RUS) Tinkoff +00:05:05
141. Matteo Tosatto (ITA) Tinkoff +00:05:50
158. Jay McCarthy (AUS) Tinkoff +00:06:33
GC After Stage 15
1. Steven Kruijswijk (NED) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 60:41:22
2. Esteban Chaves (COL) Orica-GreenEdge +00:02:12
3. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) Astana Pro Team +00:02:51
4. Alejandro Valverde (SPA) Movistar Team +00:03:29
5. Rafal Majka (POL) Tinkoff Team +00:04:38
38. Ivan Rovny (RUS) Tinkoff +01:01:39
40. Manuele Boaro (ITA) Tinkoff +01:08:28
43. Pawel Poljanski (POL) Tinkoff +01:10:28
52. Jesus Hernandez (SPA) Tinkoff +01:28:58
73. Evgeny Petrov (RUS) Tinkoff +02:03:50
102. Matteo Tosatto (ITA) Tinkoff +02:21:02
110. Pavel Brutt (RUS) Tinkoff +02:27:22
112. Jay McCarthy (AUS) Tinkoff +02:28:15
