Del Toro had the strength to follow Yates but is furious with Carapaz: “I’m not going to do all the work on my own”

Del Toro ultimately lost more than five minutes to Yates. He was allowed to concede just 1:20 in the GC, so by the time he reached Sestrière, the pink jersey was gone. “He was definitely the smartest today,” Del Toro said, praising his British rival. “Chapeau to Visma, they raced it very smartly, especially with Wout van Aert up the road. In the valley, they opened the gap really fast. It was impressive.”

But the story of the day was of course the lack of cooperation between Del Toro and Carapaz. The EF Education EasyPost leader had attacked early on the Finestre. “At first, he wanted to show that he could crack everyone. I gave him the chance, but it didn’t work. Then Simon came over the top. I know how experienced he is, and that he wouldn’t ride like crazy for five minutes but would keep a very steady pace. He was smart, and I think I could have gone with him. But I also had to watch Carapaz, because he was closer to me in the GC.”

After the finish, Carapaz placed the blame on the man in pink, wanting Del Toro to do most of the chasing. But the 21-year-old UAE Team Emirates XRG rider saw the situation very differently. “Richard should have followed him,” Del Toro said. “When he didn’t, it became more about the pressure Simon was putting on him. I had a margin of 1:20, so I could afford to let Simon go a bit. But once he had taken 1:20, it would have been better for us to work together.”

But from that point on, just below the summit of the Finestre, Carapaz refused to take a turn. And that did not sit well with Del Toro. “If you want to help, fine. But I’m not going to do all the work by myself. On the final climb, he would have dropped me otherwise. My gap to him was only 40 seconds, which is almost nothing. But he told me, ‘I’m not going to help, because you didn’t pull when it was only 20 seconds.’ If I was already losing the pink, I wasn’t about to risk losing second place too.”

On the Finestre, it often looked like Del Toro was struggling to follow his rivals. He was not always on their wheel but would close the gaps later. “I just wanted to ride smart and not go too hard on the first attacks so early on the climb. I knew they were coming, so I left gaps and then closed them. It wasn’t a gamble, I did what I thought was smartest.”

Del Toro can still be proud of his performance. And he certainly is. He even believes he may have been the strongest rider in the race. “Everyone was playing a game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. With all respect to the other strong riders, when I look at the whole Giro and how I performed as an individual, I do believe I could have won. I raced really well and made smart decisions. At first, it was hard for me to believe, but my teammates gave me the confidence that I could do it. They deserved the win, but we also have to recognize how big this was. It was not easy.”