DISCUSSION Giro d'Italia Stage 15 | Is the Giro over for Roglic? Can someone dethrone Del Toro?

We had to wait more than two weeks, but the mountains have finally arrived - and they did not disappoint. A stage with 220km and 2 grueling climbs that were a test of endurance and claimed some notable victims.

The biggest story of the day was Primoz Roglic. The Slovenian struggled in the first climb but survived the charge of Ineos, a brave team with nothing to lose. However, the second climb was too much for him, as he unexpectedly cracked and lost 1:30 to the other GC contenders.

Race leader Isaac del Toro further cemented his lead, being in control every moment. He had an answer for every attack, following Bernal and Carapaz with ridiculous ease every time they launched.

Carlos Verona won a once again chaotic stage, attacking the break right at the base of the last climb and riding solo the last 40km of the stage. Another impressive performance by Lidl-Trek and another win, six and counting.

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

I’ll start with a disclaimer: I won’t be mentioning Egan Bernal and Ineos. They tried to make something happen, but ultimately fell short on the Dori climb.

So, you’ve got Roglič getting dropped on that same climb. It’s clear he was having a really bad day if he had to let riders like McNulty and Storer go. Carapaz launched three serious moves, stretching the group to its limit. And to me, it’s truly baffling that UAE just sat there, riding for hundreds of meters on Carapaz’s wheel, doing nothing—especially when they had the chance to put three or four minutes into Roglič.

Is it because Isaac Del Toro is in much better shape than team leader Ayuso? Who’s to say. And then Simon Yates taking over in the final few hundred meters of the climb seemed more like a move for the cameras than a real effort to drop Roglič from GC contention.

In the end, the only rider who truly deserves admiration is Carapaz. He laid his cards on the table with courage. The others still seem hesitant, content to wait and watch — something they may come to regret.

Because what if this was Roglič’s only bad day? Then, apart from Carapaz, they all may have let a golden opportunity slip away. In the end though, they probably gambled right. Roglic is now 4 minutes behind Isaac del Toro. Should have been 6.

Brilliant stage, exactly what the Giro is made of, so I'm happy it delivered. All day full gas, for 220 kilometers... The breakaway formation was interesting, and I thank INEOS' management change because this season their tactics are often enjoyable and today was the case once again.

They tried a full-on raid in Grappa which was only cancelled out because UAE is above all teams and wanted a conservative race. In the final climb the swarm of attacks and tactical racing is exactly what I envisioned for this day, and the fact that in this Giro there is no "man to beat" keeps things open.

Isaac del Toro looks to be by far the strongest and has ticked off another day. Honestly, it felt like he could've attacked and made the difference, but UAE does not want that. It very much feels like they are also trying to have him spend as little as possible in this second week so as to not blow up next week. If he doesn't, he will win the Giro. But the three hardest days of the race are to come. From the GC guys everyone looked to be at their level except for Primoz Roglic.

A bad day, bad legs... I have long argued that Roglic's terrain to gain time has passed, it were the time-trials and explosive mountain stages. We enter the high mountains now, which is not to his advantage. Still his performance was far below the expected, certainly not his regular level, and with this he loses the chance to win the Giro I can confidently say.

A podium is possible IF he returns to his best level and stays consistent all the way into Rome. But above all, after two weeks of ultra-conservative racing, he might actually start to attack now and take risks - besides giving Giulio Pellizzari freedom to hunt for stages and a Top10, which may be fully possible.

Lidl-trek cannot be stopped! After Ciccone’s abandon yesterday, they have been able to recover from thar major setback and take their sixth victory of this Giro’s edition. They might not be the strongest team but they are the most successful by far, and I believe they can get at least one more win. Hopefully with Mathias Vacek, although he didn’t look too strong today, being dropped from the break earlier than usual.

The start of the stage was crazy, everyone wanted to be in the breakaway and riders had no rest during the first part of the stage. The small but very hard climb caused complete carnage in peloton, affecting Antonio Tiberi, who had to chase for so many kilometres.

It seemed he just didn’t have the legs and I was worried he would just be dropped on the next climbs even if he came back to the peloton. However, that was not the case and he was actually one of the riders looking the strongest. Bahrain still has two cards, Tiberi and Caruso, they should be protagonists in the third week.

Crashes have definitely affected Primoz Roglic. There are rumors that he and the team will decide tomorrow whether he will continue in the race or not. I also think that his chances of winning the Giro are virtually over, unless a miraculous recovery during the last week allows him to take back all the time he has lost.

But if he is actually badly affected by the crashes, I believe the best thing he could do is to retire and start preparing the Tour. Fighting for the podium at the Giro feels like not enough for a man with his achievements.

I think there is no doubt that Isaac del Toro is the strongest man at the Giro and it’s not even close. There shouldn’t be any debate regarding UAE’s hierarchy, del Toro deserves to be treated as the indisputable leader, he has earned that. He closed every gap with Bernal or Carapaz and the feeling was that he could have collaborated if he wanted, but UAE stopped him.

The first real mountain stage with a summit finish comes on Tuesdy and for me he is the absolute favourite and the man to beat. The race is more and more interesting, it’s been a while since a Gran Tour was this open entering the third week. We should celebrate!

The UAE team has once again shown that it does not know how to work in a grand tour. They were lucky that Roglic lost a minute and a half in the end with Carapaz's attack on Dori, but their moment was on Monte Grappa.

When Bernal attacked and Del Toro and Carapaz went to his wheel, UAE pulled the group where Roglic, Simon Yates and Ayuso stayed to keep the Spaniard in the race. There, if UAE did nothing, the fight for the overall would probably have been considerably reduced in favour of Del Toro, because they would have caught the front group and gained more time in the remaining stage.