On stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia, Pero Bilbao suffered an unusual setback when his teammate Mikel Landa crashed on the final climb.

The two Bahrain-Victorias had been riding well in the overall prior to this stage, with Landa in fourth and Bilbao in sixth, 59 seconds and 1:52 behind Maria Rosa and Richard Carapas, respectively.

The accident occurred 10.5 km from the stage finish in Aprica, midway up the category 1 Valico di Santa Cristina climb. Landa ran into Bilbao's rear wheel, knocking Bilbao off his bike. Bilbao appeared to be unharmed and got back on his bike and called for a push start. Bilbao's bike appeared to be in good working order, with the only noticeable malfunction being that the on-board computer had fallen to the side of the road.

The two Spaniards were part of a pink jersey group that kept a close eye on each other throughout the day. The team had a strong showing, leading the time attack on the huge Mortirolo pass with 72.1 km to go.

Landa finished the stage in sixth place and Bilbao in 11th. However, the impact took a toll on Bilbao's GC hopes, as he lost two minutes in the final 10 km.

Landa held on to fourth place, 59 seconds behind Calapaz, while Bilbao dropped to seventh, 3:51 behind.

Bilbao has consistently performed well in the Giro d'Italia, finishing sixth in GC in 2018 and fifth in 2020.

Last year, they finished 13th in GC, with team leader Damiano Caruso finishing second on the podium after Mikel Landa left the race early after a crash on stage 4.