Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux have continued their brilliant streak at the Giro d'Italia, as the Belgian team rode to their second win in the race with Jan Hirt who thrived in the mountainous terrain of the 16th stage to take a mighty solo win in Aprica.
The battle for the breakaway early on proved costly to many, as the pace was ridden all out until the base of the opening climb of the day. The peloton was heavily splitted in the climb before the categorized ascent, however things calmed down as soon as a group of around 20 riders went up the road. With a lot of quality present it would be hard for the peloton to catch up, although INEOS made the effort to keep the gap small.
Whilst the breakaway got divided, only Hugh Carthy and Jan Hirt managed to get back to the front group which included the likes of Alejandro Valverde and Thymen Arensman. A small group went over the summit, whilst in the peloton Astana pushed the pace and reduced the GC group heavily in the Mortirolo. Nibali put a move in the descent but to not effect, as the GC battle was reserved for the final ascent of the day.
As the break entered the final climb, the front group was made of Lennard Kämna, Thymen Arensman, Jan Hirt, Alejandro Valverde, Hugh Carthy and Wout Poels. Kamna had a lead, but was caught in the final kilometers by Arensman and Hirt. The Czech climber made a gruelling move that couldn't be matched, and moved towards the finale alone and with the shot to take the biggest win of his career, beating Thymen Arensman who came very close to bridging across in the final kilometers.
Jai Hindley sprinted to third place, after Mikel Landa attacked in the final climb and took Richard Carapaz and Jai Hindley. The gaps were not big between the contenders to the race win, but Hindley cut Carapaz' lead to only three seconds.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
- the time for a GC rider to retire is when they cannot win stages, or have a significant level drop like from winner/podium into top 5/10 consistently. Roglic is still competitive and Froome raced even though he became pack fodder.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- He should be in a different team. It was detrimental. For them it does not matter if he does not develop. He should have gone to a team where they need him to succeed.abstractengineer10-11-2026
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