Pello Bilbao suffered an unusual setback on stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia when his own teammate, Mikel Landa, crashed into him on the final categorised ascent.
The Bahrain Victorious pair were both performing well in the general classification prior to the stage, with Landa fourth and Bilbao sixth coming out of the second rest day, 59 seconds and 1:52 in arrears of maglia rosa Richard Carapaz, respectively.
The accident happened 10.5km from the stage finish in Aprica, halfway up the category 1 Valico di Santa Cristina climb. Landa appeared to ride into Bilbao’s back wheel, knocking him off his bike. Apparently unharmed, Bilbao remounted his bike and called for a push start from fans who were willing to oblige. His bike seemed to be in working order, with the only notable loss his onboard computer which fell to the roadside.
The two Spaniards were part of the pink jersey group that had been paying one another close attention throughout the day. The team had looked strong, riding on the front for a time up the massive Passo del Mortirolo with 72.1km to go.
The incident was not a total disaster for Bahrain Victorious, as Landa managed to finish sixth on the stage and Bilbao 11th. However, the impact took its toll on Bilbao’s GC hopes, as he lost two minutes in the final 10km.
Landa remains in fourth on GC, still 59 seconds behind Carapaz, with Bilbao dropping to seventh, carrying a deficit of 3:51.
Bilbao has performed consistently well at the Giro d'Italia during his career, coming sixth on GC in 2018 and fifth in 2020, and was looking improve on his previous best performance at the race.
He came 13th in last year's GC, in which his team leader Damiano Caruso claimed second spot on the podium following the early departure of Mikel Landa after a stage 4 crash.
