We already mentioned the Giro d’Italia 2017 a few days ago on the occasion of the Asiago stage, and today we return to it thanks to the memorable stage that unfolded that year in Bormio, probably the most iconic of that edition. The 222 km Rovetta-Bormio stage, with a double ascent of the Stelvio, opened a tough third week in which everyone had to try to put the then-perfect Tom Dumoulin under pressure, who held nearly a 3-minute lead over his closest rival, Nairo Quintana.

That day, however, it wasn’t a rival who troubled the Dutchman, but his own stomach: 33 km from the finish, before the start of the final climb, a violent bout of intestinal distress forced him to strip on live TV and dash into a field to relieve himself. He got back on his bike after about a minute, but no one in front waited for him. He climbed the Umbrail Pass alone and, by the end of the day, lost 2 minutes and 18 seconds to the leaders. “A shitty situation,” he said in dismay after the finish. “I’m disappointed with myself. I had good legs, but something went wrong. I didn’t expect the others to wait; we were already going full gas. It was terrible, but I fought to the end”.

“Maybe he caught a chill because he didn’t cover up well on the descent. Something similar happened to me too, but I was very young and certainly not the leader of a major race,” said Vincenzo Nibali, the stage winner. The Shark, in fact, had been the strongest on the climb toward the Umbrail Pass along with Quintana, whom he then dropped on the descent into Bormio. After catching up to Mikel Landa, the last of the breakaway riders, the Sicilian won the stage in a two-man sprint, edging out the Basque rider by a few centimeters.

That was Nibali’s first and only Italian stage win of that Giro, which ended with the negative record for the fewest Italian stage victories in the history of the Corsa Rosa. Dumoulin, for his part, managed to win the Giro by about thirty seconds – and today, he laughs about that forced pit stop.