Giro d’Italia · 2017
The comfort break that nearly cost Dumoulin the Giro
The pink jersey stopped beside the road. His rivals continued towards the Umbrail Pass, and Tom Dumoulin had to chase the Giro on his own.
It did not happen on the Stelvio itself. After the second passage of the pass, on the road towards the final climb to the Umbrail Pass, Dumoulin suddenly pulled over.
A day with no easy kilometres
Stage 16 ran 222 kilometres from Rovetta to Bormio, across the Mortirolo, the Stelvio and the Umbrail Pass. Dumoulin started in the maglia rosa with a useful lead over Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali.
Then his stomach decided that the race plan was no longer relevant. He stopped, put down the bicycle and dealt with the problem beside the road. There was no team car solution for this one.
How long should they wait?
The favourites initially eased, but the race was not neutralised. Attacks resumed and Dumoulin was left to chase alone. The discussion began immediately: should rivals wait when the race leader’s problem is neither a crash nor a mechanical failure?
There was no rule that could settle the question for them. Nibali and Quintana rode their race. Dumoulin rode a long, rather exposed time trial towards Bormio.
Thirty-one seconds left
Vincenzo Nibali won the stage ahead of Mikel Landa. Dumoulin finished 13th, 2 minutes and 18 seconds behind. He still held the pink jersey, but only by 31 seconds over Quintana.
He later lost the lead, then recovered it in the final time trial to Milan. He became the first Dutch winner of the Giro d’Italia. The roadside stop did not cost him the race. It came close enough.
Sources and image note
- Cyclingnews: stage 16 result and report
- The Guardian, 23 May 2017
- Wikimedia Commons: Filip Bossuyt, CC BY 2.0
The photograph was taken after the stage and does not show the roadside stop itself.
Continue exploring
More from cycling history
When Gunnar Asmussen made the bicycle lower
From Olympic gold in Mexico City to a yellow-and-black funny bike from a bicycle workshop in Aarhus.
Read the story →
Kund Rindbøl’s time trial on the old main road
A reader remembers 30 kilometres against the clock, a 54 × 14 gear and his mother at the roadside between Holbæk and Roskilde.
Read the story →
Pioneers and endurance
See the races, people, bicycles and changes that shaped the period.
Explore the period →