Isaac del Toro extends Giro d'Italia lead after recovering to win stage 17

New York Times

3 days ago

Mexico's Isaac del Toro won his first-ever Grand Tour stage after sensationally recovering from being dropped on the day's penultimate climb.
It means the 21-year-old UAE Team Emirates rider extended his lead in the Giro d'Italia's general classification (GC) to 41 seconds over Richard Carapaz, who finished third on the stage.
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Carapaz now sits second on GC, with Simon Yates dropping down to third at 51 seconds back.
Stage 17 took the riders over the infamous Mortirolo climb — over 12km at a 7.6 per cent gradient — whose name derives from the Italian for 'dead'. The Mortirolo was crested at 48km from the finish, before a short, sharp ascent of Le Motte as the day's conclusion.
Having lost significant time to Carapaz on Tuesday's stage, barely holding onto his Maglia Rosa, there were fears that Del Toro's lead may not last the day — which were heightened when he slipped off the back of the leading group with 1.5km of the Mortirolo remaining.
Carapaz then attacked with 500m of the climb remaining, at one point opening up a 30-second gap on the peloton, but was hauled back on the descent.
Del Toro then recovered sufficiently to launch his own attack with seven kilometres remaining, which only Carapaz had the legs to match. That move meant heartbreak for Romain Bardet, the veteran Frenchman riding his final Grand Tour, who had looked likely to survive the breakaway to collect what would have been a hugely popular final major stage win. He was joined by Del Toro and Carapaz with 5km remaining.
Del Toro attacked at the crest of Le Motte with just over 1km remaining, bursting away from his rivals on the remaining downhill to cross the line alone. His subsequent bow to the crowd, having become the first Mexican to win a Giro stage since 2002, was so low that he almost fell off his bike.
'Today I realised that I will never give up,' said Del Toro at the stage conclusion. 'I had nothing to lose. Today was not easier than yesterday, but I had a better mentality.'
If he holds his pink jersey to Rome, Del Toro will become the youngest winner of the Giro since the legendary Fausto Coppi in 1940 in what is his first Grand Tour.
Thursday's sprint stage is unlikely to shape the GC battle, but Friday and Saturday will be decisive, particularly the ascent of the Colle delle Finestre towards the end of stage 20.
(Photos: Luca Bettini/AFP via Getty Images)