Simon Yates is still in control of the Giro d’Italia after the British rider limited his losses to closest rival Tom Dumoulin in the individual time trial on Tuesday.
Dumoulin was more than two minutes behind Yates heading into the 16th stage and, as a time trial specialist, it was seen as his best chance of taking the pink jersey from the Mitchelton-Scott cyclist.
However, Yates still leads Dumoulin by 56 seconds heading into the final five stages.
”I’m really happy,” Yates said shortly after crossing the line. ”I really gave everything there. I was dying in the final 10 kilometers. I thought I would lose a lot more. I’m really happy. I’m really surprised I’ve kept the jersey, I’ll be honest.”
Domenico Pozzovivo remained third but slipped 3:11 behind Yates.
Rohan Dennis won the 34-kilometer (21-mile) time trial from Trento to Rovereto, beating Tony Martin by 14 seconds. Dumoulin was third, 22 seconds behind the BMC cyclist.
”I had a good TT but Rohan Dennis and Tony Martin were better,” said Dumoulin. ”I wasn’t strong enough. Yates also had a very good day so all in all it’s disappointing for us but it is what it is. I gave everything today … I’m keeping my head up and we’ll fight until Rome.”
”It’s pretty good to beat time-trialists like Tony Martin and Tom Dumoulin,” Dennis said. ”I came to the Giro to win a stage. I was hoping for Jerusalem to be that one. This stage was a big target for me as well. To win here and jump back in the top 10 is a big day for me.”
Chris Froome finished fifth, 35 seconds behind Dennis, to move into fourth overall. The four-time Tour de France champion is 3:50 behind Yates but only 39 seconds behind Pozzovivo and a spot on the podium.
Giro d’Italia 2018 – stage 16 results (Trento – Rovereto ITT):
| 1 | Rohan Dennis (BMC) | 40:00 |
| 2 | Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) | +14” |
| 3 | Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) | +22” |
| 4 | Jos van Emden (LottoNL-Jumbo) | +27” |
| 5 | Chris Froome (Team Sky) | +35” |
| 6 | Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin) | +40” |
| 7 | Chad Haga (Team Sunweb) | +47” |
| 8 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | +57” |
| 9 | David De La Cruz (Team Sky) | +01’01” |
| 10 | Vasil Kiryienka (Team Sky) | +01’04” |
| 11 | Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Fix All) | +01’07” |
| 12 | Jose Goncalves (Katusha-Alpecin) | +01’08” |
| 13 | Ryan Mullen (Trek-Segafredo) | +01’09” |
| 14 | Mads Würtz Schmidt (Katusha-Alpecin) | +01’12” |
| 15 | Maximilian Schachmann (Quick-Step Floors) | +01’17” |
| 16 | Mattia Cattaneo (Androni-Sidermec-Bottecchia) | +01’24” |
| 17 | Felix Grossschartner (Bora-hansgrohe) | +01’18” |
| 18 | Georg Preidler (Groupama-FDJ) | +01’31” |
| 19 | Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) | +01’34” |
| 20 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | +01’37” |
General classification after stage 16:
| 1 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | 66:39:14 |
| 2 | Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) | +56” |
| 3 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) | +03’11” |
| 4 | Chris Froome (Team Sky) | +03’50” |
| 5 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +04’19” |
| 6 | Rohan Dennis (BMC) | +05’04” |
| 7 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | +05’37” |
| 8 | Pello Bilbao (Astana) | +06’02” |
| 9 | Richard Carapaz (Movistar) | +06’07” |
| 10 | George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) | +07’01” |
| 11 | Patrick Konrad (Bora-hansgrohe) | +07’13” |
| 12 | Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data) | +07’33” |
| 13 | Sam Oomen (Team Sunweb) | +08’05” |
| 14 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | +08’56” |
| 15 | Alexandre Geniez (AG2R La Mondiale) | +09’48” |
| 16 | Davide Formolo (Bora-hansgrohe) | +10’03” |
| 17 | Wout Poels (Team Sky) | +10’07” |
| 18 | Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac) | +11’42” |
| 19 | Sergio Henao (Team Sky) | +14’47” |
| 20 | Jose Goncalves (Katusha-Alpecin) | +14’51” |
