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Follow us on GoogleFormer pro and now analyst Tom Dumoulin was still furious Monday evening — even after the cycling gala in Utrecht — about the conclusion of the 2025 Giro d'Italia. The 2017 winner said that Isaac Del Toro, riding for UAE Team Emirates‑XRG, had thrown away what should’ve been a certain overall victory — paving the way for Simon Yates and Visma | Lease a Bike to snatch the win.
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Let’s rewind to the Giro in May: many expected contenders dropped out, cracked or under-performed, which allowed Del Toro to emerge as the big favourite. He took the maglia rosa after the Tuscan gravel stage on day 9 — and kept it all the way until the decisive stage 20. That final day climbed the brutal Colle delle Finestre and finished in Sestriere.
Coming into the last stage, Del Toro and UAE defended a 43-second lead over Richard Carapaz (EF Education‑EasyPost) — and 1 minute 21 over Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike). The expectation was that the gap to Carapaz was the real threat; Yates seemed properly out of the picture.
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Dumoulin merciless about Del Toro and UAE
But despite a near-perfect performance by Visma | Lease a Bike — and Yates launching the decisive attack, with help from teammate Wout van Aert who escorted him safely — Dumoulin admitted he was still in disbelief when watching the final standings at the gala.
He confessed he literally couldn’t stand to watch — he switched off the TV, telling how it would’ve “flown across the living room out of frustration.” “Del Toro and UAE were simply giving away the Giro — in the most stupid way possible. I truly don’t understand it at all,” he fumed (as reported by Wielerflits).
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The Giropodium vlnr: Del Toro, Yates and Carapaz
Dumoulin thinks Del Toro lost the Giro, not that Visma | Lease won it
In Dumoulin’s view, Del Toro should have won the Giro — “easily,” he added. Even if Yates had a “super day,” Del Toro seemed strong enough to at least keep the damage under 1:21. “I don’t know what Del Toro was doing — I still don’t understand it to this day.”
The now-retired Dumoulin even made people laugh when he emphasised with gesture and tone how angry he was during stage 20. Turning off the TV must have also been a form of self-protection. “I don’t need to watch so much stupidity.” Still, he did grant that Del Toro is a fantastic — “truly insane” — rider. “I hope he gives Tadej Pogacar and others a hard time in the years ahead.”
Del Toro recently admitted he had made mistakes — and that he only learned too late how much gap Yates had opened. That, Dumoulin said, was partly forgivable. But whether Del Toro will get another shot at a Grand Tour win is far from guaranteed. “I too thought I’d get many more chances for yellow in the Tour — but that never happened,” he added.
Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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Latest Comments
- Eight riders told to go for stages, and nobody gets one—hard to know what the plan was there. It’ll be interesting to see whether they pick a clear leader next time.bikebuffj10-11-2026
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- What a mess. The report makes it sound as though nobody properly explained the decision, and that’s hard to defend.jennifer1910-11-2026
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