"I don’t see anyone capable of attacking him right now"; Boogerd sees Del Toro as UAE's undisputed leader

Michael Boogerd watched Del Toro in awe during the fifteenth stage. The youngster sailed over the mountains and retained his leader's jersey with playful ease. The former Rabobank rider hopes that he will really seize his chance next week. "I think his only opponents could be the pressure and his inexperience because when you see him riding, you think: take your seconds when you can," said the man from The Hague.

On the Monte Grappa, the 21-year-old climber jumped with Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman, among others, and on the final climb, he let his legs do the talking again. But a stage win has yet to come. "If he still has the legs he has now, he's going to go for it, and then he'll be in an even more comfortable position. For me, he's the big favorite. At the moment, I don't see any rider who is capable of attacking Del Toro on the climbs."

Bobbie Traksel also sees that Del Toro is incredibly strong but wary of the pink jersey wearer's recklessness. The former Vacansoleil rider believes Bernal didn't need to react to the acceleration. "You need a Majka or a McNulty type for that, someone who says: just trust me, it'll be fine. He doesn't need to make that kind of effort. Then it becomes a one-on-one because Ayuso couldn't keep up at that point either. He shouldn't want that; he should take a step back."

Most of the GC contenders finished at the same time, but not Roglic. He lost 1.30 minutes and is now in tenth place in the GC. His pink dream looks to be over, says Boogerd. "The way Roglic is riding now, I can't see him moving up." It's clear that it's not just his legs that are suffering: after another crash, the Slovenian is in pain and can't accelerate. "He kept riding at that slow pace. He's lucky he still had some teammates to help him in the final, but Roglic isn't going to make up four minutes in the last week."

But earlier in the Giro, it was evident that Roglic was not the same as Roglic, for example, at the first mountain finish. "He's never on the wheel; he always shows up later, just like Yates (Simon, Visma | Lease a Bike, ed.). A rider in top form, like Del Toro, is right on the wheel. With Roglic, you can see in the stages where you could have written him down for the win that he's not quite comfortable in his own skin."

Unlike Roglic, however, Yates is still in an excellent position. He is even second, one minute behind Del Toro. However, Boogerd does not believe he has achieved this through his strength. "He is doing very well in the rankings because they are all dropping out, but he is always the first victim when they attack. It's not as if he is right on the wheel."

The former Rabobank rider doesn't think it's likely that the British climber will be outclassed, though. The top favorites are very close in terms of skill level. "It would be very strange for a rider to suddenly catch up two minutes on him. I don't see that happening, especially not with Yates. He just has to follow."