After taking a chance, Carapaz and EF Education set their sights on the Finestre: "Richie is at his best right now"

On the Col de Joux, the second-to-last climb of the day, Carapaz already dealt a blow. But on the final, not-too-difficult climb, it was full throttle for the EF Education - EasyPost leader. Only Del Toro could follow him. "I think we all were quite on the limit, but I still wanted to give it a go and try, and I think it was a pretty good stage," he said in a press statement from his team.

Even though he couldn't drop the 21-year-old leader of the general classification, he did manage to get rid of Yates and Derek Gee, among others. This puts the climber stronger in second place in the GC. "I left some guys behind on the GC, arriving with Del Toro, and I'm happy about that. We kept it fast at the top." Carapaz finished third in the stage, losing two bonus seconds to Del Toro, but he gained four on Yates.

Saturday's stage will be decisive. With the Colle delle Finestre as the judge and the finish in Sestrière, there is more than enough drama to contend with. "Tomorrow we expect a lot of heat, as it was today, which affected a lot of riders," said sports director Juan Manuel Garate. "The Colle delle Finestre is a climb that feels eternal, endless. Never ends. Everything can happen, and it's true that after that, you still need to get to Sestriere. Even if the wind is favorable tomorrow, it will take a lot to get there. I did it in 2005, and it's pretty hard." The Spaniard himself finished fourth in the stage and fifth in the GC.

Pride is the word that comes to mind for the American team regarding their lead rider. After a somewhat difficult start, he is back to his old self. "Richie is really good, he has done so much work, to adapt to the riders and the team, and so did the team with him. Now he is in his best moment since he joined our team and he already had a good moment going into and during the Vuelta last year, but now he is more solid, he is the Richard Carapaz we all know, the one who can dispute the Grand Tours."