Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek) secured a 40km solo victory on stage 15 at the Giro d'Italia, holding off a chase group and crossing the line 22 seconds ahead of
Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling) and an additional second ahead of Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) on the streets of Asiago.
At 219km in length, the stage marked the second-longest of this year’s Giro d’Italia, and it was Verona who made a decisive move at the foot of the Passo Dori, holding on over the top of the climb and extended his gap on those behind until his lead was unassailable, soloing to the finish to take the second professional victory of his career and a first Grand Tour stage win.
A veteran of 16 Grand Tours, the 32-year-old Spaniard is a deserving winner, having ridden as a domestique for most of his career. It also adds yet another success for his Lidl-Trek team at this Giro d’Italia and a much-needed lift within the team after losing Giulio Ciccone on yesterday’s stage.
"I certainly didn't come to the Giro thinking that I could win a stage, and I was happy with that. I was here in full support for Mads Pedersen and Giulio Ciccone. Everything changed yesterday when we lost Cicco. Today is my day. I didn't want to do it for me, but I wanted to do it for the team, knowing how much Giulio had worked for this race," Verona said.
"When I was in the breakaway, I thought we were missing one rider, but everything happens for a reason. I had to be in that break. I stayed focused. I had the legs to be there. I had to go from far out, and I had to win for the team."
On a day that saw the general classification riders attacking over the main ascents, mid-race Monte Grappa and late-race Passo Dori, Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was dropped on the final climb, as several teams looked to distance him further before the finish. He would lose a minute and a half to maglia rosa Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), dropping him down to tenth in the overall standings.
Elsewhere, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) attempted to test the legs of Del Toro on both the Monte Grappa and the Passo Dori, but the 19-year-old Mexican marked every move with ease and kept his overall lead intact come the finish.
There were some issues for his teammate Juan Ayuso on the Monte Grappa though, as after a poorly timed mechanical, the Spanish rider found himself distanced by the likes of Bernal, Carapaz and Del Toro over the top of the climb and was forced to rely on his team to pace him back on the descent.
Del Toro continues to lead the overall classification by 1:20 ahead of Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) and 1:26 ahead of Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), as the race heads into its second rest day on Monday before stage 16's mountainous race into San Valentino (Brentonico) on Tuesday.
Isaac del Toro continues to lead the overall classification after stage 15 at the Giro d'Italia (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
There was a fierce battle for the breakaway at the beginning of the day, as teams fought to get riders up the road in the first part of the stage ahead of the Monte Grappa and Passo Dori later on.
It took around 62km of racing for a breakaway to eventually form, as a group of 35 riders established itself at the head of the race. They would be allowed an advantage of around three minutes, as UAE Team Emirates-XRG managed the gap in the peloton behind.
The sheer size of the breakaway inevitably led to some issues with cooperation, as several riders attempted to draw a smaller group clear. However, the front group would come back together on the lower slopes of the Monte Grappa, as Movistar and XDS Astana set the pace.
A general view of the peloton on stage 15 (Image credit: Getty Images)
It would then begin to fracture at the head of the race, as the climbers came to the fore on the steeper gradients, and several small moves started to go off the front
In the peloton behind, a small issue for Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) left him off the back with around 8km to go on the climb. His struggles were then compounded as Ineos Grenadiers began to set a hard pace in the main group just as he was beginning to return.
After all of the work from his team, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) then launched an attack with 3km to go until the summit, with Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) immediately following, before Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) and Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) bridged across.
Egan Bernal and Richard Carapaz went on the attack several times on stage 15 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Arensman worked hard to extend the gap for Bernal, with Carapaz also keen to capitalise on the opportunity, whilst Del Toro was forced to sit on with Ayuso caught out behind.
Over the top of the climb, Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) took the maximum points to extend his lead in the maglia azzurra, as the gap to the breakaway fell to around a minute over the maglia rosa.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG worked to bring Ayuso back into contention, bridging the gap to the group of Del Toro on the descent.
UAE Team Emirates XRG's Spanish rider Juan Ayuso on stage 15 (Image credit: Getty Images)
In the breakaway, Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) went clear on the descent as the rest of the group was caught. He had a gap of around 20 seconds as they entered the valley road, before being joined by a chasing group of ten riders that had attacked out of the peloton.
The newly formed group were given a sizeable advantage by the peloton, as their gap grew quickly.
As they reached the foot of the Passo Dori, a surprise move from Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek) was not immediately marked, with Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step) the only rider to go with the Spanish veteran.
However, the young Italian could not hold Verona’s wheel, as he was then joined by Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla), before the pair were eventually reabsorbed by the remnants of the breakaway.
Primož Roglič loses time on stage 15 (Image credit: Getty Images)
There were some attempted moves from the GC contenders on the climb and it was Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) who suffered the most, as he was dropped along with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) with around 30km to go.
The Slovenian rapidly lost time in the final 2km of the climb and would concede a minute and a half to his rivals at the finish, as all of the teams in the peloton worked to distance him as much as possible.
After reaching the summit of the final climb, Verona began to extend his gap on the chasers behind him on the undulating plateau to the finish. With a gap of around 40 seconds as he entered the final 5km of the stage, he began the final descent into Asiago with the stage win well within his grasp.
Verona crossed the line to take an incredible victory, finishing 22 seconds ahead of the remnants of the breakaway led by Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling), whilst the maglia rosa group arrived a few seconds later.
Carlos Verona secures his first Grand Tour win on stage 15 at the Giro d'Italia (Image credit: Getty Images)
Joseph Lycett is a freelance writer for Cyclingnews and has been covering professional cycling since 2022, writing for outlets such as GCN and Cycling Weekly. Joe is also a keen cyclist himself, regularly racing in his local crit races and time trials.
