ANALYSIS | UAE's Ayuso and Del Toro headache to be solved during stage 10 time trial
CyclingMonday, 19 May 2025 at 13:45
The Giro d'Italia 2025 has reached its second rest day, just as the race for the pink jersey erupted. Sunday's gravel stage promised plenty of changes in the general classification, and boy did it deliver. Isaac del Toro came out of the day with the maglia rosa and plenty of chances to keep it until the end of the race, despite narrowly missing out on the stage win.
At the start of the Giro, the Mexican began the race with the clear objective of helping Juan Ayuso and Adam Yates, the leaders of UAE Team Emirates - XRG, in the fight for the overall against Primoz Roglic. But right now, Del Toro is leading with the following advantages:
- Isaac del Toro.
- Juan Ayuso: +1:13.
- Antonio Tiberi: +1:30
- Richard Carapaz: +1:40
- Giulio Ciccone: +1:41
- Simon Yates: +1:42
- Egan Bernal: +1:57
- Brandon McNulty: +1:59
- Adam Yates: +2:01.
- Primoz Roglic: +2:25.
For this reason, the dilemma in UAE for the remainder of the race is clear: should they continue to support Juan Ayuso, or focus on winning the race with Isaac del Toro, with more than 1 minute advantage over their leader? Luckily for them, Tuesday's time trial will be key to define the objective. We tell you the main reason why down below.
Juan Ayuso is 2nd overall in the Giro d'Italia behind Isaac del Toro
Since this is an individual time trial, UAE's only possible strategy is for each rider to ride their heart out. No tactics, no strategic games, pure power. UAE don't have to make any calls, they just have to wait for the results to come in.
UAE's options
However, when the time trial is over, several windows will open for UAE with Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro, depending on the results:
- Juan Ayuso cuts time to Isaac del Toro: if the Spaniard approaches the Mexican, logic says that UAE should support him for the rest of the race. There are still 2 weeks to go, and the hardest mountain test has not yet arrived. From experience, Ayuso is much more reliable for the more complicated finishes and to battle against Primoz Roglic in search of the comeback.
- Isaac del Toro gains more time over Juan Ayuso: the Mexican is also a great time trialist, and there is the option of him taking even more time off the Spaniard. In this case, UAE should start considering that their best option to win the Giro d'Italia is Isaac del Toro. His talent for the mountains is enormous, and with the help of Ayuso and Adam Yates, with the cushion of advantage over Roglic, he would be able to fight for the final victory.
- The time between the two varies almost nothing: there is the third option in which things stay the same as they are in the time trial. In this case, UAE would have a harder time deciding. Most likely, the next summit finish, looking at the form of each, would dictate who they should put their trust in for the remainder of the race.
What is clear is that Tuesday's race will not be a simple time trial for UAE, Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro. The stakes are high, and the outcome, whatever it may be, looks set to be historic.
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So, is it solved???
Unless the results in the TT are very different, they need to protect both until at least one more hard summit finish. Then decide.