Egan Bernal demonstrated his superiority on the shortened royal stage of the 104th Giro d’Italia and probably made a preliminary decision. The Colombian top favorite won the 16th stage in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Monday as a soloist ahead of the French Romain Bardet and the Italian Damiano Caruso.
Before the second day of rest, Bernal is now 2:24 ahead of Caruso in the overall standings. Britain’s Hugh Carthy is third, 3:40 minutes behind. The German cycling hope Emanuel Buchmann had to give up the race on Sunday after a fall.
Shortly before the start, the organizers decided to shorten the stage from 212 to 153 kilometers due to bad weather. The Passo Fedaia and the 2239 meter high Passo Pordoi, the highest point of this year’s tour, were canceled at short notice because problems from snowfall and ice had been feared. Bernal attacked the Passo Giau, which is also over 2200 meters high, a few kilometers from the summit and left the competition behind.
The German hope Emanuel Buchmann had got out the day before after a mass fall on the 15th stage. When the Giro entourage continued the stage, Buchmann was already on the way to the hospital. A concussion, cuts and tears and bruises on the face were diagnosed there. The cuts in the mouth had to be sewn. “We called in a specialist, a facial surgeon,” said Bora team doctor Christopher Edler. On Sunday evening Buchmann returned late to the team hotel, on Tuesday the return trip to Germany is on the program.
