The final week of racing commenced after the race's second rest day the previous day; the sixteenth stage was a transitional stage, returning to Italy following the Col du Galibier finish of the previous stage. Starting in Valloire, the parcours of began with a descent from the Col du Télégraphe, going in the opposite direction from the way that the peloton had climbed previously. Having reached Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, the parcours sloped up again towards Modane and onwards to the Mont Cenis, this time in reverse, crossing back into Italy. From the foot of the climb, there was around of relatively flat terrain before reaching the finish town of Ivrea for the first time. From there, a loop was tackled, which contained a third-category climb. The climb, the Andrate, averaged around 8% in gradient - reaching 13% in places - and was expected to deny the sprinters of any chance of winning the stage. The day's breakaway was formed prior to the Mont Cenis, when an attack by Blanco Pro Cycling's Wilco Kelderman instigated a move of sixteen riders in total, while six more riders were able to bridge up towards the leaders before they had reached the summit of the climb.