Battling Romain Bardet limits losses after brilliant team support in mountain finale

An amended route saw the peloton leave from Laas, for a 118 kilometre long stage 16 that ended with almost 25 kilometres of climbing up to Santa Cristina Valgardena. It was a fast start to proceedings on the mostly flat or downhill opening part of the stage, as multiple teams and riders looked to make the day’s breakaway. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL were active in trying to make the break, with Kevin Vermaerke following and making several moves that were ultimately brought back.
Eventually a four rider move went clear and a steady pace was set in the peloton, with some teams setting out their stall that they wanted to fight for the stage win from the bunch. The team looked after GC finisher Romain Bardet, with the guys riding well as a unit as they progressed along the flat roads to the climbs in the finale. The gap to those held steady at around one minute and 30 seconds for a while, before a big increase in tempo saw that cut down dramatically. Bardet had a bad moment on the climb as the pace went up, but he was brilliantly supported by Vermaerke and Gijs Leemreize. They initially lost almost 50 seconds on the maglia rosa group but a committed chase over the next 13 kilometres and some exceptional teamwork saw Bardet return to the back of the group, just as they made the turn onto the steepest section of the final climb in the closing two kilometres.
From there, Bardet just battled as much as he could on the steep slopes, fighting all the way to the finish and even passing riders who were in the maglia rosa group. In the end, Bardet limited the losses to one minute and 19 seconds to stage winner Pogacar, but much less to those around him on GC; as the team maintain seventh in the overall standings after the stage.
After the finish Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Matt Winston expressed: “It was a really fast day of racing with the flatter start. We looked for the break but then it became clear that some teams wanted to keep it close for a GC day. The guys bubbled up well in the bunch as we headed to the climbs in the finale. Unfortunately, Romain had a bad moment on the Passo Pinei but the guys rallied around him really well. They showed some great teamwork, kept calm, and brought him back just before the steep part of the last climb. From there, Romain just pushed all the way to finish to limit the losses, which he did well in comparison to some of the other guys around him on GC.”
Unfortunately, Julius van den Berg abandoned the race mid-stage, which you can read more about here.