Simon Yates and his Visma-Lease a Bike team rode an awesome penultimate stage across the Colle delle Finestre to Sestrière at Giro d’Italia to win the race overall. Yates became just the third British rider to claim the final maglia rosa, after Chris Froome in 2018 and Tao Geoghegan Hart in 2020.
However, Saturday’s stage 20 will also go down in history as the day Isaac del Toro – and his management at UAE Team Emirates-XRG – threw away what could have been a famous win for the 21-year-old Mexican, in his second season as a World Tour rider and riding his second Grand Tour.
When Yates, who started the day 3rd overall, broke clear solo some 13km from the top of the Finestre, race leader del Toro refused to help 2nd placed overall Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) in the chase. And as Yates pulled further and further away, and the penny dropped with del Toro he was losing the race, Carapaz then refused to help him pursue the British rider.
It seemed like farcical tactics from del Toro. However, having raced for a club team less than two years ago, the sports directors in the UAE team car, including senior figure and former pro rider Fabio Baldato, should have offered him much better guidance.
Baldato now claims it wasn’t as simple as del Toro playing his cards poorly and racing as if he only needed to beat Carapaz to be crowned Giro champion. The eight-time Grand Tour stage winner, including four wins at the Giro, said none of the analysis so far has factored in one key fact; that del Toro was simply not capable of following the flying Yates. Baldato claimed he did not have the legs or the confidence.
“It was a battle of nerves and legs between Isaac and Richard Carapaz, but the strongest and the smartest rider won the Giro,” Baldato said. “We underestimated Simon Yates because he did a fantastic ride, just look at the times.”
On the early slopes of the Finestre, Carapaz attacked very hard several times. However, he only managed to distance del Toro for short periods, with the Mexican rider calmly coming back to him. At that point, Yates looked the weakest of the trio; falling behind both Carapaz and del Toro several times before catching them again.
But as the climb continued, Yates clearly rode himself into it. And as Carapaz and del Toro continued to focus on each other, Yates attacked and got a gap. The chasing pair – with del Toro sitting on Carapaz – got that gap down to less than 20 seconds. But then del Toro refused to close the last seconds and the dispute between 1st and 2nd overall began, opening the door for Yates.
Yates also had team mate Wout van Aert up the road in the early breakaway. He dropped back and towed Yates in the valley after Finestre and onto the slopes of the final ascent to the finish line; that of Sestrière. Once van Aert’s work was done, he pulled over exhausted and almost came to a stop.
But Yates had had a breather sitting on the Belgian’s wheel and flew up the final climb; putting just over five minutes into del Toro and Carapaz. That meant he took the race lead, with just the sprinters’ stage into Rome remaining, by a margin of 3:56 from del Toro, with Carapaz 3rd at 4:43.
“Our race strategy was for Isaac to mark Carapaz because we thought he’d attack hard. We were surprised that he attacked so hard, but Isaac replied. Simon was smart because he rode at his own pace and then kept going,” Baldato said.
“Isaac knew that Yates had van Aert up the road in the break, we’d told him. Halfway up the climb, we tried to tell and encourage Isaac to think about Simon, too. We only did it once because he was the one on the bike; he knew how his legs were feeling.
“His goal was to reach the summit of the Colle delle Finestre with Carapaz. He opted to save his strength for the final, but they just ended up arguing with each other. As we say in Italian, ‘Tra i due litiganti il terzo gode – When two people argue, someone else wins.'”
For his part, del Toro said: “I don’t think I did anything wrong. Richard had to protect his second place and so marked me closely.
“He said I should have worked with him but if I’d worked with him, he would have attacked me and could have gained time on me. He thought he was doing the most intelligent thing for his place on the podium. You can win that way but you can also lose.
“I wanted to win but I can’t honestly believe I’ve finished second. For sure I’ll be back to try to win the Giro. I’m really happy with my Giro. I was always up there, always learning. I’ve got to be proud of myself and of the team that was always there for me.”
Carapaz, a popular and good humoured rider but not the most expressive athlete in the sport, tried to remain upbeat having won a stage and taken 3rd in the final general classification. But he also pointed to del Toro’s poor choices, questioning his ability to race.
“We could have been the strongest, but it was the most intelligent who won. Del Toro lost the Giro. He didn’t know how to race well,” Carapaz said. “We all played the same game, of trying to win. And only one could win. We went all in for it and it ended how it ended.
“For me, a third place is a reward for all the hard work we put in to be on the podium. So I think we can all be very happy. I gave it all for three weeks and I wouldn’t change a thing. I think this is the game. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.”
