The last time that the Giro d’Italia went up the Colle delle Finestre in 2018, Richard Carapaz finished in second place on the stage. Isaac del Toro, the rider who Carapaz is now trying to take the pink jersey from seven seasons later, was just 14 years old. In 2025, the Ecuadorian rider is in his 10th season as a pro, while his Mexican rival is only in his second. Carapaz has experience and a decade of race miles in his legs, while Del Toro is part of the new guard – a young generation of super-talent breaking into the WorldTour and rewriting the rules of professional cycling. There is one stage of this year’s Giro d’Italia remaining where we will find out, definitively, who comes out on top.
Throughout the race so far, the pair have been closely matched, and there were shades of a battle emerging as far back as the second week. Carapaz took his stage 11 win with a genius, well-timed attack, stealing the march on his competitors and crossing the line alone, ten seconds in front of Del Toro who was the best of the rest behind. Five days later, when the real mountains started, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man was on the back foot again: Carapaz attacked on the San Valentino climb and Del Toro was dropped. Then, it looked like his age and lack of Grand Tour racing had taken its toll and that the long mountains would be too much to ask of the young Mexican rider.
But we know by now that Del Toro is not a rider who gives up easily. His stage 17 win in Bormio proved his strength of character and ability to bounce back against the odds. When the 21-year-old took some daring risks on wet, technical corners in the final kilometre, Carapaz lost his back wheel. With that, Del Toro had his maiden Giro stage win – taken in the maglia rosa, no less. So, he had shown that he could get the better of Carapaz on a tricky finish, but how would he manage throughout the 4950 metres of elevation gain in stage 19?
The answer, as it turns out, is very well indeed. Del Toro could follow his older rival when the inevitable attacks came on the final climb to Champoluc, sitting closely behind Carapaz, watching him like a hawk and even outsprinting him to finish second place and take bonus seconds. Another punch had been thrown. The pendulum had swung the other way. Now, with one Alpine day left to come in the 2025 Giro, just 43 seconds separates the duo. There is one more day for Del Toro to survive, and one more chance for Carapaz to crack him.
“Tomorrow will be different. It will be a longer, more serious climb, and we all know that,” the EF Education-EasyPost rider told the media after stage 18. Carapaz didn’t say much, but the threat in his sentence was ominous.
Del Toro too was unafraid to give some fighting talk, downplaying his earlier weakness during the race: “I don't know what I did wrong when I cracked on stage 16 to San Valentino but I wasn't there. Today, I felt more secure about the big stages and for the future,” he commented.
“I know that today they probably wanted to make me suffer. They saw that I cracked that one day and so they hope to do it again. They pushed early to put riders in the break, but in the end I was able to be up there.”
Of course, the likes of Simon Yates and Derek Gee should also be considered as threats to the pink jersey, but both riders have, so far, been unable to respond to the explosive attacks of Carapaz in the way Del Toro has. Right now, it is those two riders who face the Colle delle Finestre as stand-out favourites to win this bike race. It could be the last chance in Carapaz’s career that he gets to take another Grand Tour title, but for Del Toro, it is the opportunity to make history and shape his future in this sport. Each rider wants it, each rider will fight with everything they have to get it. Let the final battle commence.
