The stage, ending in San Valentino, was the first mountainous stage of this year's Giro - over a 203 Km, featuring nearly 5000 meters of climbing, the riders tackled four major climbs, including an 18 km summit finish.
Christian Scaroni won stage 16, while Isaac del Toro clung on to first overall, as several contenders fell or faltered on a crash-filled day in the Alps. Former winner Primoz Roglic ended in abandonment after suffering a fourth crash. Richard Carapaz was involved but was able to continue and Juan Ayuso felled out of the top-ten.
"The aim was to win the KOM, and then the stage. Scaroni helped me everyday to take the points, I told him to stay behind me, I pull the whole climb and you take the win."
-Lorenzo Fortunato
"We worked perfectly from the start, got into the breakaway at the right time, and did a lot of work at the front to help Lorenzo score maximum points for the mountain classification. It was a really tough stage - long climbs don't suit me much - but together with my teammates we executed the perfect strategy. The final KM was really steep, my legs were dead, I realized that I won when I crossed the line."
-Christian Scaroni
Derek Gee was incredible finishing fifth after a gruelling day in the Alps, which saw he climb to fourth in the general classification. It was a stellar ride on the final climb, dropping the majority of his GC rivals, including race leader Issac Del Toro. Among the GC contenders, only Richard Carapaz managed to open a small gap on Gee in the final kilometers.
"I'm really happy. This is the first real test, so I'm glad the legs came through. I couldn't follow Carapaz's acceleration, so I just tried to ride my own pace to the top of the climb. I'm really happy with where I ended up, but there's still a long way to go."
-Derek Gee
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