"A climb that feels eternal, endless" - EF DS Garate on Richard Carapaz and dream of taking pink in Sestrère

The final big day of the Giro d'Italia is this Saturday's queen stage up to Sestrière, where EF Education-EasyPost hope to achieve a Grand Tour victory. It will be a very difficult task, but one that seems possible for Richard Carapaz as he takes on the Mexican Isaac del Toro on the mythical Colle delle Finestre.

Juan Manuel Garate, team DS, has previewed today's stage after this Friday's showdown on the Aosta valley which ended up with a psychological victory for the UAE rider. “Tomorrow we expect a lot of heat, as it was today, which affected a lot of riders," he said in a press release.

"The Colle delle Finestre is a climb that feels eternal, endless. Never ends. Everything can happen, it’s true that after that, you still need to get to Sestriere, and even if the wind is favorable tomorrow, it takes a lot to get there. I did it in 2005, and it’s pretty hard".

The team tactics won't really be as complex on this stage, as most of the day is rather flat until the bottom of the Finestre, and then, the Western Alpine climb is so steep and long that the presence of teammates is not as vital as in previous days - one of UAE's main weapons to defend against their rivals.

“Richie is really good, he has done so much work, to adapt to the riders and the team, and so did the team with him," Garate assured. "Now he is in his best moment since he joined our team and he already had a good moment going into and during the Vuelta last year, but now he is more solid, he is the Richard Carapaz we all know, the one who can dispute the Grand Tours. Now he is in a good moment"-