The attack was a foretold one, but that did not make it any less dramatic. When Vincenzo Nibali dispatched his Astana-Cazacstan teammate to lead the Maglia Rosa group on the Mortirolo climb on stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia, his intentions were clear. His intentions were clear on stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia, the Mortirolo climb, when he dispatched Astana Cazacustan's teammate to lead the Maglia Rosa group.

Sure enough, when the road leveled off at the summit, Nibali went on the offensive. This year's Giro took a gentler approach up Mortirolo from Edoardo, which made the fall to the other side more dangerous.

Nibali was able to open up a gap on the other podium contenders after a couple of hairpins. Domenico Pozzovivo (Intermarque Wanti-Gobert Materio) crashed on the grass bank and was chased by podium contenders. For a moment, the scene was like Stephen Kruijswijk at Colle Dell'Aniello, back in 2016.

The moment passed. After carving a tight line in each corner, Nibali made gains on the tense descent to Mazzo di Valtellina, but the long valley road that followed doomed his efforts. When the high wire was removed, the tightrope walker had to become a pedestrian again. Nibali was soon caught up by Richard Caparaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), and although he moved up to fifth place overall later in the day, he was 42 seconds behind the top ranked riders.

"I wanted a hard day. If the stage had ended at the base of Mortirolo, it would have been a different story," Nibali's teammate Joe Dombrowski said at the finish in Aprica. Looking back at the top of Mortirolo, there weren't that many riders in the bunch and everyone was struggling."

Nibali remained in the pink jersey group on the unmarked pass of Teglio, but began to drop back as the group dwindled on the final pass of Valico di Santa Cristina. A strong push by the Bahrain Victorias team led by Mikel Landa finally pushed the limits. Four kilometers from the summit, Nibali was pulled away from the pink jersey group. Nibali battled on the steep slopes, but was not reunited with the race's strongest riders before descending to the Aprica line.

"I lost contact on the last part of the climb and had to take it from there on my own. Bahrain was very strong today and ran a very high tempo."

In the overall standings, Nibali has moved up three places to fifth overall, but the chances of an overall win or a podium finish are slim. Nibali ran alongside Carapaz and Hindley in Turin on Saturday, but was unable to follow them in this event. He is now 3:40 behind the pink jersey and 2:56 off the podium.

"I was getting better for this stage, but I paid the price today. It's hard, but that's the way it goes. It's difficult, but that's the way it goes. One day one rider runs strong and pays the price, and the next day another rider runs strong and pays the price. That's how it is."

Nibali's disappointment at losing his position to the riders ahead of him was palpable in the Apprica, but his frustration was compounded by the race jury's decision to sanction him for dumping trash outside the designated dumping area during this stage.

Nibali was reluctant to challenge for the overall for his last Giro, but in the two weeks since announcing his retirement at the end of the season during the race in his hometown of Messina, he has become quite understanding of the task.

"It's great to run for Vincenzo. I've compared it to playing with Kobe Bryant, who is an icon in this sport (NBA). It's his last year and I want him to do something special in this last week. It would be fun for me to be a part of that," Dombrowski said.

"He's a calm guy. He doesn't seem stressed. A rider like him, who can be on the GC of a Grand Tour for many years, knows how to manage stress well. Otherwise he would burn out in two or three years."