Photo gallery: Faces of the Mortirolo
Skipping the Passo Gavia was probably a good idea. The 2019 Giro d’Italia had been scheduled to tackle the legendary climb on stage 16, taking riders to beyond 2,600 metres, but with the weather looking far from hospitable, organisers made the call to remove it from the route. As the riders found out, the weather was bad enough on the Passo del Mortirolo at 1,850m.
Rain lashed down from the dark skies above as riders battled the obscene gradients and one another, before descending tentatively towards the finish.
It wasn’t just that it was wet — and it was very wet — it was also painfully cold. Eventual stage winner Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) was seen shaking uncontrollably in the final kilometres after the descent. Other riders poured hot tea on themselves in an attempt to stay warm. It was the sort of day that tests the resolve of riders, team staff and fans alike.
Of course, bad weather means great photos and thankfully for us some of the best in the business were there to capture the action on stage 16. We hope you enjoy the following shots from Kristof Ramon, Jered and Ashley Gruber, Cor Vos and RCS Sport.
For an insight on what a day in the life of a professional cycling photographer and what it was like to shoot on this day, we talk to Jered and Ashley Gruber here (start at 25min in):
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- The weather wasn’t too bad at the start of the stage.
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- But that didn’t last long.
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- Fans did what they could to stay warm while waiting for the riders.
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- Guilio Ciccone escaped from the day-long breakaway …
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- … with Jan Hirt for company.
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- Nibali was as aggressive as ever …
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- … and eventually linked up with Richard Carapaz, Mikel Landa and Hugh Carthy.
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- Hugh Carthy put in a storming ride at this year’s Giro.
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- Bauke Mollema moved up to fifth overall.
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- The first day after the second rest day, stage 16, was a horribly wet one that featured a soggy and freezing ascent (and descent!) of the Mortirolo.
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- Speaking of helping others, many riders benefited from some hands-on support from the tifosi.
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- Pavel Sivakov lost his white jersey to Miguel Angel Lopez but still sits ninth overall.
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- Pre-Giro favourite Primoz Roglic lost some time that day.
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- Esteban Chaves is a long way of his best still, and currently sits over an hour behind the overall leader.
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- Ciccone and Hirt made it to the finish together …
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- KOM leader Guilio Ciccone took out the stage from the breakaway, just ahead of Jan Hirt.
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- Nibali took fourth ahead of Carthy, with Carapaz then Landa following them across the line. Fausto Masnada had finished third from the break.
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- Roglic is now 2:09 off the overall lead of Carapaz and will now need a great time trial on the following stage. He’ll also need to avoid losing any more time in the mountain stages that remain.
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- END 16
