You can point at all sorts of tactical mistakes, starting with letting Wout van Aert into the breakaway without a UAE rider alongside him, but the true sin of the final mountain stage of the Giro d’Italia was simpler, and far more damning: UAE didn’t fight for the win at all.
It was strange. Embarrassing, even, after a month where 'fight' was the best word to describe Isaac Del Toro’s efforts. He did the maglia rosa proud for 19 days and then sat on hoods, gliding down the back of the Finestre, refusing to work with Richard Carapaz. If that was Del Toro’s call, at least we can point to youth and inexperience; if it was from the team car, which it certainly appeared to be, then the decision is absolutely inexcusable and appalling.
The Giro slipped through their fingers, not in some explosive attack, but in silence and stillness.
A moment of appreciation for the bravery and tactical nous of Simon Yates and his Visma-Lease a Bike team. This Giro was won as much as it was lost. He had the legs, he was bold. He did exactly as Del Toro didn’t, which was fight. Four times he attacked on the Colle delle Finestre, the legendary gravel-laced climb that had haunted him since his collapse there in 2018. On the fourth attack, he was gone. By the summit — the Cima Coppi — he was in pink, though only just. Down in the valley, teammate Van Aert was waiting for a long-planned coup de grâce. Perfection.
This wasn’t a tactical masterclass from Visma as much as it was an exercise in Grand Tour fundamentals. Put a teammate up the road. Attack when the others hesitate. Keep riding. Meanwhile, UAE failed to put a rider in the breakaway, all but guaranteeing Del Toro's isolation at the key moment of the entire three-week race.
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