Oleg Tinkov and Bjarne Riis head out for a ride(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Astana on the turbo trainers on the rest day(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Androni riders come up to the gates(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Team Sky heads out for a rest day ride(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Riders are going to want to bundle up for stage 16(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The road up the Gavia is still showing the winter wear(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
This very steep climb will test riders on stage 16(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Snow lines the roads over the Gavia(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
It's going to be a cold, cold stage 16(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Rafal Majka bundles up for the rest day ride(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Robert Kiserlovski (Trek) on the rest day(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Oleg Tinkov, owner of Tinkoff-Saxo(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Michael Rogers opts to ride the turbo trainer(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Omega Pharma-Quickstep mechanics work on the rest day(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 168 riders left in the Giro d'Italia enjoyed a relaxed third rest day on Monday, using the day to recover from the fatigue of the 15 stages raced so far and prepare for the final mountain stages ahead.
Overall race leader Rigoberto Uran did not hold the traditional press conference, preferring a quiet day in his hotel at the Passo delo Tonale after a ride in the morning. The Colombian climber and several of his teammates drove by car down from the 1800m summit to Ponte di Legno to avoid the cold and rain.
Several of the Trek Factory Racing team did the same but most riders opted to ride on the rollers for an hour to work up a sweat and clean out the toxins of Sunday's long stage to Montecampione.
"Despite the bad weather we were able to train for two hours," Uran said in a press release from the Omega Pharma-QuickStep team.
"We had a good training session. We went down from Passo Tonale by car, and we trained on the Ponte di Legno area, and then we went back to Passo Tonale by bike. Everything is OK. I really enjoyed this rest day, I think we all deserve it after two weeks of battle. We are OK and ready for another week on the roads of the Giro."
Other riders went to inspect the Passo Gavia to see if the road was passable. Team Sky, Bardiani-CSF were all spotted near Ponte di Legno with Team Sky directeur sportif Dario Cioni joining his riders in the saddle.
Click here to see a gallery of images of riders training on the third rest day and the huge banks of snow on the Gavia.
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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
