Del Toro is one step away from winning the Giro d'Italia after a very tough stage won by Nicolas Prodhomme

Save without problems the first of the last two tough mountain stages that remained in the Giro d'Italia for Isaac del Toro, who showed himself solid against the timid attacks prompted by Richard Carapaz, right now, the only one who seems capable of unsettling the leadership of the Mexican heading into tomorrow's definitive stage towards Sestriere. A 19th stage in which Nicolas Prodhomme gave a valuable victory to Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale after being the last survivor of a numerous breakaway.

Carapaz and Simon Yates fail to take advantage of the penultimate opportunity to dethrone Isaac del Toro

Bittersweet taste after the penultimate mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025. A true epic stage that led the peloton towards that cycling paradise that is the Aosta Valley. 166 kilometers in which almost 5,000 meters of elevation gain were accumulated through 5 climbs of true alpine cut, that is, ascents of great length but with contained gradients. Pure wear and tear where forces are gradually depleted until the breaking point.

The day started with the Croce Serra climb, the easiest of the day, practically from the start which caused a thousand and one attacks to try to get into the day's breakaway. However, this breakaway would not be consolidated on this first climb but it would be on the long flat section that separated the descent from the start of the second climb, Tzecore, the toughest of the day with 3 kilometers in the final part that exceeded 11% on average, practically the only place of the day where cyclists would face double-digit gradients.

RECOMENDADO

Why short cranks are trending?

Nico Denz the strongest in the breakaway in stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia in which Juan Ayuso abandoned

The trick of the bottle to count laps and other curiosities of the Orbea Fox Factory Team in Nove Mesto

Pogacar, Evenepoel and Vingegaard will face off in the Dauphiné

DJI adds fuel to the fire: releases the 1,000W of the Avinox motor in more modes and adds new functions

New Orbea Terra or a completely new model? This is the prototype spotted at Unbound Gravel 2025

A very numerous breakaway at the beginning on the flat, although it was already anticipated that riders like Groves and Pedersen were not going to get very far while for others like Verona, Prodhomme, Daniel Felipe Martínez, Tiberi or Verona it was a unique opportunity to achieve a precious victory.

With almost no need for movements, the breakaway was gradually falling apart on the ascent to this tough climb, also yielding from it, in addition to the mentioned Groves and Pedersen, a faded Wout van Aert who, despite his victory in Siena, is not the same as a few years ago when he amazed us in stages like today's in the Tour de France.

This first colossus passed without major news and, almost immediately, it was linked with Saint Pantaleon, a constant climb around 7 or 8% gradient, undoubtedly ideal terrain to stretch the race and promote a winning attack. However, as often happens in grand tours, the third week means that the forces are very depleted and the small differences in the general classification mean that no one wants to take any risks. Visma-Lease a Bike appeared at the front but without causing any apparent effect.

The next climb, Col de Joux, was the chosen point by the escapees to go for the stage win and, already on the first ramp, Carlos Verona attacked strongly, taking Nicolas Prodhomme and Antonio Tiberi with him. The Madrid native tried to drop them on several occasions with Tiberi either showing cold and calculated blood or true lack of strength. Meanwhile, the Frenchman from Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale showed solidity in responding until, at one point, he launched a powerful attack that left Verona and Tiberi stunned, who would end up being absorbed by the main group.

Vigilance continued in the group of favorites and it was not until the last two kilometers when Richard Carapaz finally made a move, albeit very timidly. An attack that Isaac del Toro and Simon Yates responded to without problems. The rest of the favorites caught up to them thanks to the pace set by Derek Gee.

Only the 7 kilometers of ascent to Antagnod remained, a gradual climb with hardly any gradients where differences could be made. Richard Carapaz attacked with a little over 2 kilometers to go, this time with more strength, managing to open a good gap, but with a shadow dressed in pink on his wheel. Simon Yates was not with them this time, showing weakness to the point that Derek Gee had to work hard to close the gap until the Bahrain-Victorious men took over. By that point, a difference of about 20 seconds had already been consolidated and would be maintained until the finish line.

An exultant Nicolas Prodhomme arrived victorious in Champoluc, practically omnipresent in almost all the breakaways of this Giro d'Italia 2025 and who, at the last minute, achieved the well-deserved reward for so much work. Nearly a minute later, Richard Carapaz was unable to overcome Isaac del Toro's sprint for the bonus seconds and had to settle for third place, while a little over 20 seconds later, the rest of the favorites group arrived, with an accident for Pellizzari, who collided with the barriers in the last corner, fortunately without apparent consequences.

Another step forward for Isaac del Toro, who seems difficult to dethrone from the leadership given the solidity he has shown. However, the Colle delle Finestre is a very special climb and surely in the minds of fans is the stage of the year 2018 in which Chris Froome managed to snatch the Giro d'Italia on that same stage from a seemingly secure winner Simon Yates.

Stage 19 Classification

1. Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) 4h50'35''
2. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +58''
3. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +58''
4. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +1'22''
5. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1'22''
6. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +1'22''
7. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1'22''
8. Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1'22''
9. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +1'22''
10. Einer Rubio (Movistar) +1'22''

General Classification

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 73h47'59''
2. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +43''
3. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1'21''
4. Derek Gee (Israel-PremierTech) +2'27''
5. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +3'36''
6. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +5'13''
7. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +5'32''
8. Einer Rubio (Movistar) +6'39''
9. Michael Storer (Tudor) +9'11''
10. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 9'33''