DISCUSSION Giro d'Italia Stage 11 | Did UAE miss an opportunity to attack Roglic? Is Carapaz a contender?

After today's stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025, we're now over halfway into the race. And on stage 11, we once again saw twists and turns in the race for the pink jersey.

A day that seemed to be a nailed on stage for the breakaway, once again turned into a GC showdown. And this time it was Richard Carapaz who launched an explosive solo attack on the penultimate climb to take his first Giro stage win since 2019. Why is that significant? Because it was the year he won the race overall.

But where was Primoz Roglic? And has Isaac Del Toro usurped Juan Ayuso? We asked our writers at the end of the stage to give their opinion on another important day in the Giro.

Well. A stage that looked more promising than it ended up being in my opinion. The break took long to be formed which hinted me there could be some interest from GC teams to attack the race early as well.

My expectation was that UAE would try to attack early to force Roglic to be isolated and then eventually drop him behind. But at some point they just stood aside and let the break go.

Then Lidl stepped up, supposedly working for Vacek and Vacek was nowhere to be seen. The break itself looked like just stepped up for the mountain points (mainly Fortunato) and to get some TV time, but ended up being caught too easily imo (Pedersen was chasing alone). Then Carapaz attacked and i felt like everyone was just waiting to see who would chase him, and no one did.

A confusing stage to say the least. The first part of the race was full of attacks, with the peloton averaging speeds of over 50km/h. I say peloton, but really for most of the day there was no true peloton, with many groups across the road.

Firstly, how good is it to see Nairo Quintana back in the mix? His glory days in the GC may be behind him, but he can certainly still climb, and descend!

Secondly, I have to question the tactics of two teams: UAE Team Emirates - XRG, and also Lidl-Trek. In the case of UAE, if Roglic goes on to win this race in the 3rd week then stage 11 will be a day they look back on with regret. Roglic was isolated for much of the day, but neither Ayuso or Del Toro truly looked to put him under any pressure.

Roglic is a master of 3 week races, and he will be biding his time. Were there also the first signs of friction in the leadership at UAE, with Del Toro not overly keen on pulling for Ayuso?

For Lidl-Trek, Mads Pedersen was once again superb in setting a brutal pace. But...why? Vacek was not in the mix, and in the end all Pedersen did was ensure the breakaway didn't win. They won't be buying him any beers any time soon!

Great stage today in the Giro d'Italia. Nobody wanted to let a breakaway form, finally some important riders made it, but the peloton kept them at bay at all times. With hindsight it seems hard to understand why Mads Pedersen and Lidl-Trek were pulling so hard, unlike the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, who had a clear shot at victory with Tom Pidcock.

However, Richard Carapaz surprised everyone and gave us more proof of his courage and nerve. As for the favorites, no problem for them. Isaac del Toro gained a few seconds at the end thanks to the bonus of his second place, completing a great job by UAE in the last kilometers.

Unlike Ivan, I was actually positively surprised with today's stage. When I first saw this stage profile I was quite happy, it was a potential GC raid day. After a few days of Giro my expectations dropped to near 0 that there would be any GC action on the day.

The start was very fast due to everyone believing it would be for the break and the flat start. Like stage 8, the fatigue, tactical and endurance dimension that's added to the stage makes for surprises and for quality racing. But the front group, which looked ideal, had to contend with a peloton riding at top level because of Mads Pedersen's desire to help a teammate win a stage essentially - which hasn't happened yet, so we may see it again.

Egan Bernal's attack was nice to see, and only having Del Toro and Ayuso respond proved to be quite an exciting moment. It was good that such a brutal climb was honoured, in a way, and not just ridden at a calm pace as I expected. And the final climb saw Carapaz showing his very best level.

He does not have a team to win the Giro, but exactly as I hoped for, he is the most fearless out of all GC contenders and can explode the race at any time - specially as he can't be given much freedom after this performance. The likes of Bernal and Carapaz, and the lack of a dominant figure in the race, are slowly making for an exciting build-up in the mountain stages.

UAE played tactics in the finale, with Del Toro attacking and Ayuso letting the wheel go purposefully to create a gap and put Roglic on the back foot. Good tactics, good sign of team work in my opinion.

Simultaneously, UAE was by far the strongest team in the day and did nothing beforehand to try and have one of their riders gain time on the competition after all circumstances were aligned. Yates and McNulty, both in the Top10, continue to be used as mere domestiques and not GC contenders. We will see if this comes back to bite them in 10 days.

A stage that was exciting and dull at the same time. For a brief moment, it seemed as though fireworks will be lit up with Bernal's attack on San Pellegrino, and many top-10 riders suddenly lost their ground (including Roglic), but ultimately UAE killed all the fun of today's stage. Their strength is obvious, but this Giro will only start once they finally sort out their pecking order.

I think they could've gained a lot today, but ultimately only Majka was willing to sacrifice himself with four men mainly focused on their own ambitions. Chapeau to Carapaz for reading the situation perfectly and winning today. Do I think he can win the Giro? No. But if UAE and Roglic keep looking at each other, we could witness the 2019 Giro anew...

Astana are also winners because they made a big leap towards winning Mountain Classification with Fortunato. That they didn't win the stage? I don't think either of Poels/Fortunato had it in the legs today...  

Great day of cycling at the Giro. Lorenzo Fortunato consolidated his bid for the podium in Rome, continuing to add points to the mountain jersey. On the main climb of the day to San Pellegrino in Alpe, Egan Bernal made the men in the general classification shudder. It was an earthquake. The group of favourites fell apart.

If it was already small, Bernal's shake-up made it even tighter. Up front, a smiling Nairo Quintana showed that he's in good health and can be counted on to win a stage. Lidl-Trek went to the front to work for Ciccone, but it was Richard Carapaz who capitalised on this work, launching a brutal attack nine kilometres from the finish line to take the win.

Isaac del Toro decided to put one down and accelerate, having to look in his rear-view mirror to realise that Ayuso wasn't on his wheel and Roglic was also behind. At the finish line, the Mexican still gained 6 seconds, in a field where Roglic and Pidcock were natural contenders for the podium.

In short, Del Toro is the strongest man in the race at the moment. He pedals easily, responds quickly and is super motivated. If the UAE doesn't pull the rug out from under him, the Mexican is going to be a tough nut to crack, at least until we get to the high mountains.