DISCUSSION Giro d'Italia Stage 14 | Is Del Toro lucky? Was Visma in the wrong for pulling after the crash?

Major chaos erupted in one of the stages in which that was less likely to happen on paper. 170 kilometres that were completely uneventful were followed by a massive crash in a cobbled section of the final circuit that affected most of the peloton and created huge gaps.

A small group of just around 20 riders went clear, with Olav Kooij, Kaden Groves and Orluis Aular as the only sprinters. Some of the GC riders avoided the crash and managed to stay in peloton, but others didn’t and lost serious time. Roglic, Ayuso, Bernal and Storer lost 48 seconds, while Tiberi and Mcnulty lost 1:42. Giulio Ciccone was the main victim, crashing hard and looking very much in pain.

Meanwhile, Kasper Asgreen took advantage of the chaos behind him and clinched a well-deserved victory after staying the whole day in the break.

Once the stage finished, we asked some of our writers to share their thoughts and main takeaways about what happened today.

Well, this was supposed to be a calm stage. The flattest stage if you count out the time trials. And boy did it turn out to be chaotic...

It's bad to see the Giro being decided by elimination, but i think that's what we're seeing at this moment with several men losing time due to bad luck. Isaac del Toro has the lucky star on his side and keeps gaining time on most of his rivals.

Meanwhile the fall itself disrupted the chase on the break which allowed Kasper Asgreen to go for the win and get a much deserved victory.

From my side, I'm pleased that on such an unexciting stage Asgreen gets rewarded for the effort he made for putting on a show during the stage. This stage looked like the type of stage that wouldn't invite anyone to go for the breakaway and he did it. Always good to see the breakaway guys being rewarded.

Luck rewards the brave. I'd say EF today have made up for the late lineup announcements they do every Grand Tour! Like Carapaz did a few days ago, the team today took the risk and reaped the reward. It was a very modest breakaway of four riders, and to make it clear how small chances they seemed to have of succeeding, Louis Meintjes voluntarily left the breakaway to return to the peloton.

There is this weird 'unwritten rule' in the peloton that once the gap reaches 1 or 2 minutes, riders just stop trying to get in the breakaway. Of course, a few teams began to cover attacks, but the reality is so many teams have no chance to win any stage in direct confrontation here, and today they have missed their chance to surprise.

The break was under control all day long, until it wasn't. Nothing to take away from Asgreen though, who was absent all spring but seems to have finally reached his best form, taking a superb victory in his style - and I wouldn't be surprised if in the final week he tries to do so again.

GC wise, a disaster for Ciccone which is sad. Antonio Tiberi also lost a lot of time which is a shame, it's never good to have the GC take shape over crashes. I would say the GC fight becomes more exciting however, as Simon Yates and Richard Carapaz take serious time back on Juan Ayuso and Primoz Roglic who incredibly arrived at the finish together once again, both affected by bad luck; whilst Isaac del Toro regains the time he lost in the time-trial and becomes a bigger threat once again.

The GC fight is on fire and tomorrow in the first mountain stage I hope to see fireworks to feed this battle.

A stage that offered few certainties, largely shaped by a crash that involved nearly all the general classification contenders. Among them, Isaac del Toro was fortunate to bounce back quickly and finish in the lead group — a luxury that Giulio Ciccone couldn’t afford, as he came off worse from the incident.

Assuming no major injuries, the takeaway is clear: the Mexican heads into the mountain stages with a bigger buffer in the overall standings, which puts the pressure squarely on Primoz Roglic to go on the offensive.

It’s unlikely he’ll do so this Sunday, with a stage that feels poorly designed — Monte Grappa is placed far too early and the finale lacks the sting needed to make real gaps. The true moment of reckoning, it seems, will come starting Tuesday, when the road tilts upward in a more decisive fashion.

I have to say that I didn’t really remember that Kasper Asgreen was riding the Giro until I saw him in the break today, but after a very quiet spring season he delivered a masterclass and got a victory in style. The stage was too flat to think that the break could have any chance on paper, also because it had four riders, but Asgreen pulled the impossible. Always refreshing seeing Cinderella triumph, mainly on a flat stage.

It is interesting how Visma pulled right after the crash, knowing they have usually complained exactly about that in the past when they were affected. Today they were benefited from the situation and there were not many kilometers left to catch the break, so I can understand that they had the need to pull for Olav Kooij. I don't think criticism is justified in this case, but let’s see if they remember about today the next time something similar affects them.

We lost Ciccone today, such a disappointing news to lose another GC contender due to a crash. It is always a decisive factor, but this year’s Giro feels particularly cruel in this regard, barely any GC guy hasn’t been affected so far. Antonio Tiberi also hit the deck, not sure how serious his crash was and whether it will hinder him. It feels like the winner will just be the only one not falling from his bike.

Isaac del Toro is always perfectly positioned in peloton, at this point we cannot claim that he is just lucky to avoid being affected by crashes. He is attentive during the whole stage pretty much, and that is helping him to escape from trouble in days like today. He was actually the only one in his team to arrive with the peloton, with Ayuso, Mcnulty and Adam Yates all losing time.

UAE has definitely lost the cards of Mcnulty and Adam Yates, as they have once again lost time and are too far away in the GC standings. Del Toro recovered the time he lost in the time trial and is leading with a comfortable gap now. All the mountains have yet to come, starting tomorrow, but the current situation opens up the race much more.

With the main favourite Primoz Roglic forced to attack, the mountain stages promise a lot of action. UAE tactics tomorrow will be revealing as well. Will Ayuso work for Del Toro? Will he have the freedom to attack?

There is also a bunch of riders with too much time lost already (considering they barely had a taste of the mountains) that might shake things up too. Especially Ineos, they have already proved they have come to the Giro to play and their current GC spots (9th Bernal and 10th Arensman) are not worth it for them. I expect them to turn the race upside down tomorrow, they have the team for that.

Tomorrow should clear up any remaining doubts with the first mountain test - one of five awaiting us in the coming week. It was about time, the Giro has saved the best for last.