Isaac del Toro was disappointed but also defiant after losing the 2025 Giro d'Italia on the mighty Colle delle Fenestre and the road to Sestriere.
The 21-year-old Mexican and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) refused to work together on the daunting second last climb of the 2025 Giro, both eased up and in doing so, could not stop Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) powering away to a likely definitive overall lead.
The tactical and near-farcical battle between Del Toro and Carapaz allowed Yates to take the maglia rosa in Sestriere and he now leads Del Toro by 3:56 and Carapaz at 4:43.
Carapaz and EF were not interested in finishing second or third and opted to call Del Toro's bluff. They then bluffed and counterbluffed, both scared the other could then attack and drop them.
In the end, they both lost out, with Del Toro arguably losing the most - the maglia rosa and his first Grand Tour victory.
"Everyone was playing games. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose," Del Toro said at one point after he swapped the pink jersey for the best young rider's white jersey.
"My disappointment is split 50-50, half for me and half for the team. They deserved the win."
With a mix of pride and tactical vision, Del Toro refused to accept that he lost the Giro by refusing to work. He shrugged off criticism from Carapaz, who said 'the most intelligent guy won' referring to Yates.
"Everyone can have their own opinion," Del Toro said in reply.
"For sure he was the most intelligent, so chapeau to Visma because they played it well."
'I had the legs to win overall'
Del Toro refuted probing questions about his and UAE's race tactics, in turn questioning how Carapaz raced.
"At the beginning of the Finestre he wanted to crack everybody and I just showed they can't do that," Del Toro said.
"I wanted to be smart on the climb and not go crazy, I knew it would last an hour. I didn't want to push 1000 watts and then stop, like I knew would have happened That's why I paced myself.
"Simon came up and I know he has experience and that he'd ride steady and smart. I think I could have stayed with him but I knew I had to mark Carapaz because he was the closest to me in GC. Yates was third and Richie was second, so Richie needed to follow him. I had 1:20 on Simon and so I could let him go a bit.
"I told Richard that I wouldn't work so that he could attack and drop me on the last climb. He told me he wouldn't ride and I said 'Okay'. Everyone then saw what happened."
Del Toro tried to find satisfaction in his breakthrough performance in this Giro. He ultimately lost to Simon Yates and will ride into Rome in second place but has shown his Grand Tour ability.
"I'm happy in one sense because I showed that I can compete in a Grand Tour and that I'm not lacking anything. Few people thought I could do what I've done before this Giro. I had the legs to win a Grand Tour, I went close to victory," Del Toro said with pride.
"I respect the big riders but if I look at all my performances in this Giro, I can start to think I can win a Grand Tour.
"I'll sleep well tonight because I've matured and I've realised that this is also cycling. I'm not smiling because I'm second. But it's still a great result."
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