Stage 16 start time: Tuesday 13:00 CET (4:00 AM PDT);
Earliest live video: 14:35 CET (5:35 AM PDT);
Approximate finish: 17:19 CET (8:19 AM PDT);

road.cc: Some gentler mountains on this stage ahead of some tougher ones on the next - a day for a break reckons Geraint Thomas.

VeloNation: Two-time winner speaks on Giro rest day; insists Liquigas-Cannondale tactics will pay off in the long run.

Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages & results),
An Post Ras - May 20-27 (Stages & results),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages & Results),
Tour de France - June 30 - July 22 (Stages),
2012 Olympic Games - July 28 - August 12 (Races),
Vuelta a España - August 18 - September 9 (Stages),
More...

BikeRadar: A tired Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) reached the summit of Pian dei Resinelli 39 seconds down on Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) but he remained upbeat about his chances in spite of losing the maglia rosa on stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia.

Charly Wegelius: "The Giro is now entering into the final week. After so many days of racing the key element is now the energy reserves each rider has left."

VeloNation: German champion takes Canadian victory in her first road race since April.

SBS: Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen finished safely in the bunch on the final day of the Glava Tour of Norway, to snag himself the final general classification win over Australian Orica-GreenEDGE rider, Simon Clarke.

VeloNation: Video interviews with stage winner, plus best young rider Lavery.

Monday is a rest day.

Stephen Roche: "Like everyone else I was amazed to see how Mark Cavendish took his third Giro d'Italia stage win in Cervere on stage 13. He’s clearly got something that no other sprinter has in their armory. As for the man himself, I find him less engaging."

CyclingIQ: "12 Tour de France stage wins, 12 Giro d'Italia and 12 Tour Down Under stage wins, 3 green jerseys, 2 Australian Road Championship titles, and the list goes on. Depending how you count them, Robbie McEwen has around 120 wins in his 17 year professional career. If you look at this wikipedia page, his list of palmares is outstanding. Thanks for all the memories Robbie. You did Australia proud!"

SBS: New Zealand cyclist Sam Bewley will fill the place in Orica-GreenEDGE’s team vacated by Australian legend Robbie McEwen after the Amgen Tour of California.

RedKitePrayer: "Last week I attended a mini media camp. It was three days of riding Cervelo bikes and Easton wheels in Sonoma County. All my work should be this hard. As it happened, the get together also included an introduction to a new nutrition company, Osmo Nutrition."

VeloNews: The GC picture is still wide open with six days of racing left, with 10 riders still packed within three minutes of the pink jersey. The hardest, most decisive stages are still to come and the legendary climbs such as the Giau, the Mortirolo and the Stelvio will decide this Giro.

CyclingNews: Philippe Gilbert (Team BMC) will make his return to racing, a month after he signed off his Classics campaign with third in La Fleche Wallonne. The Belgian rider had a relatively poor spring by his standards, failing to win a Classic after the opening months of his season were affected by illness and injury.

CompetitiveCyclist: "After mentioning a few weeks back that I was on the hunt for a steel road frame and fork, I went ahead and ordered a Dave Kirk. I'll keep folks posted here about the purchase process. My last email to Dave revealed that there are plenty of questions for us to answer."

CyclingNews: Timmy Duggan staged an impressive feat of strength in the Amgen Tour of California: together with his teammate Ted King, the Liquigas-Cannondale rider was key in controlling the race in order to set up Peter Sagan for his five stage victories. Duggan rode at the front every day, went into a breakaway on stage four to Clovis and then set a blistering pace on the stage to Big Bear to try and bring back the lone escapee. That ride earned him the Most Courageous jersey award.

PodiumCafe: The penultimate stage of the 2012 Giro will feature the highest mountain top finish in European GT history atop Passo dello Stelvio. Perhaps the greatest cycling climb in Europe. Especially for those that like hairpins.

SBS: Tour de France organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) have been ordered to pay 115,000 Euro in compensation to former head doctor Gerard Porte following his illegal sacking, his lawyer said yesterday.

CyclingIQ: From its roots as a Taiwanese Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in 1972, Giant Manufacturing Co., Ltd broke ground in China 20 years later, when it opened its first manufacturing facility in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, on October 8, 1992.

Video: Chris Horner is Happy To End a Hard Week of Racing...

BikeRadar: It’s looking like 2012 will be the year that double cranksets – those with twin chainrings instead of the traditional three – begin to dominate. With no outer chainring to catch on logs and rocks, and less chain flapping around, they make sense for more aggressive riders, and with the latest wide-range 10-speed cassettes you shouldn't be short of gears. Here's our pick of the best mountain bike doubles we've tested this year.

road.cc: Well priced, hard wearing minimalist saddle bag that you can look at as an extra jersey pocket.

road.cc: Reasonably priced but doesn't achieve higher pressures with the same efficiency as a midi pump.

VeloNation: Luxembourg champion has “let the team down” says RadioShack-Nissan manager; no one is guaranteed a Tour spot.

TwistedSpoke: The Tour of California, sometimes know as The Pete Sagan Show, is now “done and dusted” as race announcer Dave Tolle likes to shout. Here’s our take on the seventh edition that had thrills, surprises, a French twist and also repetition and dominance.

CyclingWeekly: Mario Cipollini writes a column daily in La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper during the Giro d'Italia. Lately, he has been critical of Mark Cavendish and team Sky.

InnerRing: It might look inelegant but the photo above from a seller on ebay reveals the ancestor of almost every modern road bike.

The e-bike of the future? If it is there's going to be lots of wheelying.

road.cc: Get a pared down version of SizeMyBike for now.

RedKitePrayer: "As the French Champion and a favorite for Flanders Sunday, Chavanel was, along with teammate Tom Boonen, one of the few riders lucky enough to have the new Red 2012 groupset."

Luke Evans: "A day off. Much needed after two weeks without a break. Well a bit more than that as the first rest day was taken up with travelling from Denmark to Italy after the first weekend of the Giro."

CyclingNews: The relationship between Johan Bruyneel and the Schleck brothers appears to have reached a new low when the RadioShack manager questioned whether Fränk Schleck's injuries had been sufficient enough to pull out of the Giro d'Italia.

CyclingNews: Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) sprinted to his fifth stage win in the Amgen Tour of California on Sunday after a short, fast stage in downtown Los Angeles. His team set him up perfectly for the bunch sprint finish and he crossed the line ahead of Tom Boonen and Gerald Ciolek (both Omega Pharma-Quickstep).