Marking The Spot

Denmark’s two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard dominated the mountainous stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia to increase his overall lead in the pink jersey. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider unleashed a powerful attack with about 10km to go and rode away from his competitors, at times achieving speeds of 23km/h at gradients of 12%. On a hot day in the Italian and Swiss Alps several riders lost time. Italy’s Giulio Ciccone became frustrated by the lack of lead he and his fellow breakaway riders had built up, launching a full drinks bottle back at his team helper through spectators on the side of the road.

Norway’s Fredrik Dversnes won stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia after the final lap in Milan was neutralised because of rider complaints about the race conditions. The 29-year-old Uno-X Mobility rider was rewarded for his breakaway and crossed the line for the biggest win of his career, ahead of three Italians – Mirco Maestri, Martin Marcellusi and Mattia Bais – as an expected bunch sprint never materialised. Race organisers opted to neutralise the final 5km for the general classification, with that ruling then extended to the entire fourth and final lap. It was a surprising end to a flat 157km stage from Voghera to Milan, which looked tailor-made for the sprinters.