Quito -
The breakaway of the day led Slovenian Jan Tratnik to his first victory in the Giro d'Italia, which resumed on Tuesday with stage 16 featuring Ecuadorian Alexander Cepeda in the breakaway group.
It was a calm stage for the leading group, but there was a fight among the escapees, 28 in total, who decided to break away from the peloton during the stage, with Ecuadorian Alexander Cepeda from Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec also playing a role.
The breakaway managed to build a lead of up to 15 minutes over Joao Almeida's group, who has held the pink jersey for 14 consecutive stages.
The breakaway group worked to maintain the lead and with 50 kilometers to go they began the battle to gain an advantage towards the finish line.
--The emotional Stage 16 Last Km of #Giro d’Italia 2020!
--The emotional Stage 16 Last Km of #Giro d’Italia 2020! pic.twitter.com/sSFmU2Z3Rj
-- Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) October 20, 2020
The ascent to Monteaperta separated the group. Manuele Boaro (Astana Pro) and Jan Tratnik (Barein-McLaren) took the lead and engaged in a close battle, dividing the breakaway and leaving a second group of five riders in pursuit, and further back another group, which despite falling behind the leaders, remained ahead of the main group, controlled by Deceuninck to avoid setbacks in defense of the pink jersey.
For the last lap of the planned circuit in the final stretch, Boaro fell behind and Ben O’Connor from NTT Pro Cycling took the lead, but he was well controlled by Tratnik, who pulled ahead with 600 meters to go and crossed the finish line alone with a time of 6 hours 4 minutes and 36 seconds.
With the breakaway riders scattered at the end, Cepeda arrived at the finish line 4 minutes and 44 seconds behind Tratnik, placing 18th, his best position in the race marking his debut in Grand Tours.
Overall, Almeida remained the leader with a time of 65 hours 45 minutes and 8 seconds, followed by Wilco Kelderman at 17 seconds, and in third place Jai Hindley at 2 minutes and 58 seconds, both from Sunweb.
A total of 137 riders started this stage, which saw more dropouts, such as Colombian Fernando Gaviria who tested positive for coronavirus, with tests scheduled to be repeated at the end of the day. (D)