DISCUSSION Giro d'Italia Stage 17 | Is Carapaz the main favourite to win the Giro? Del Toro's comeback, Ayuso's disappearance and more...

Another mountainous stage at the Giro d’Italia and another exciting day of cycling. Isaac del Toro bounced back from yesterday’s setback and claimed his first victory of this Giro after an incontestable attack in the last kilometers.

Earlier, a group of around 40 riders formed the breakaway of the day, including usual suspects such as Lorenzo Fortunato, Romain Bardet or Pello Bilbao. They never had a big lead, given that Polti – VisitMalta kept pulling behind, as they didn’t have any rider in the break and Brandon McNulty was dangerously close to Piganzoli in the GC.

Richard Carapaz tried his luck again, this time in Mortirolo. His attack couldn’t be followed by anyone and Isaac del Toro visibly struggled, but in the descent most of the GC guys reunited, with the exceptions of Michael Storer and Antonio Tiberi.

In the last kilometers, del Toro launched a ferocious attack that was only followed by Carapaz. However, he couldn’t avoid the Mexican from taking the win and extending his lead a few seconds.

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

Interesting stage with quite a few plot twists. So on the high mountains it's notorious Carapaz is stronger and can drop Del Toro, but on short hills and technical courses it is the opposite. Tendency forward looks to be for Carapaz to eventually drop Del Toro and Yates for good.

Another thing that became clear is that, after being dropped from the GC, Ayuso looks to not be bothered too much about working for the team. Looks a bit unlikely that he's dropped so much the physical shape from day to night and got dropped too easily today.

Looks like he could consider a DNS tomorrow, but given that Jay Vine also dropped out it looks like a huge hit on Emirates for the final days of the Giro.

Also, on a side note I should give a huge praise for my fellow countryman Afonso Eulálio who was running 3rd division level last season and today had the best performance of his career. 1st in Mortirolo and gave his all for the break to make it.

In the end the break got caught and he was still pulling for his mates on the peloton despite other teams probably having higher responsibility for that. Showing great potential and definitely establishing his status inside the team.

I read somewhere that Isaac del Toro was afraid yesterday, or that he couldn't control his nerves or his strategy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Del Toro performed yesterday as well as he could, considering that he is 21 years old and, unexpectedly, has been forced by circumstances to lead the best team in the world at the Giro d'Italia.

Today he did not recover, but he demonstrated, as he has demonstrated in all stages of this type, that he is the best on short climbs. Because on the Mortirolo he suffered again, I imagine he will suffer on Friday and Saturday in the two remaining high mountain stages.

It is a luxury to enjoy a cyclist like this. And, I repeat, he has not recovered from anything. Yesterday he gave his all and today, in a stage that suited him much better, he won.

With two kilometres to go, Isaac del Toro had only one thought: win the stage and embrace his family beyond the finish line. He did just that. Behind him, Romain Bardet could only wonder—surely not second again? Richard Carapaz added drama to the day, settling for third while already eyeing the climbs to come on Friday and Saturday.

No matter who claims the overall title, Isaac del Toro has etched his name into Giro d’Italia 2025 folklore. The way he carved through the final bends—fluid, fearless, almost Pogacar-esque—made it feel like cycling is imprinted in his DNA.

Tonight, he can sleep peacefully - with or without his bike next to him. This victory will clear his mind and carry him into the final days with a lightness few others can enjoy.

Regardless of how the standings shift, he’s already won something far greater: the admiration of fans during what is shaping up to be the most thrilling Grand Tour of the decade. And with the final week underway, the race for pink remains deliciously unpredictable.

Who still needs the Tour de France when the Giro serves up drama like this? Forget July—May has never looked this good.

Isaac del Toro has shown in this 17th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025 that he has all the makings of a great. Yesterday he stayed and seemed to say goodbye to his chances of victory in the race, despite having held on to the maglia rosa, but now he has confirmed that he is more than in the fight. He has managed wonderfully well a complicated day, with the Mortirolo, at only 21 years of age.

Richard Carapaz was once again the bravest and, despite losing a few seconds, he took 2nd place in the general classification and for me he is now the main candidate to win this Giro d'Italia. Juan Ayuso has confirmed his problems and Antonio Tiberi has fallen completely.

Finally, very good Einer Rubio, who has placed 8th taking advantage of the victims of the day and is only one place away from matching his result of last year.

Isaac del Toro is clearly inferior than other GC contenders in the high mountains, we saw that yesterday. That was his real level, and I agree that he didn’t really have a bad day considering his abilities, but just a normal one.

Today he showed weakness in Mortirolo, but the finish line was still far away and the stage hadn’t been that hard, so he could come back. The finish suited him perfectly and he didn’t want to narrowly miss on the victory again (he was second three times already).

Not even Carapaz could match his explosiveness, a very well deserved win for del Toro, who opens up the gap again and should see his morale boosted.

I think he will lose the Maglia Rosa either on Friday or Saturday, but he could totally hang on to the podium, an amazing result for someone who, we shouldn’t forget, is just 21 years old and a Gran Tour debutant.

Juan Ayuso deserted today, he lost contact with peloton even before the first climb started. For me, it’s hard to believe that he couldn’t even follow the pace at that moment. As I said yesterday, he should switch his mentality and focus on supporting del Toro in the mountains, he will need as much help as possible.

UAE already lost Jay Vine and Ayuso not being committed to helping del Toro is not a luxury the team can stand. If he continues refusing to work for Del Toro, I think his stay at UAE might be compromised next season. And honestly I think that Ayuso should leave UAE, he has too much competition and will not be able to freely choose his own calendar and enjoy complete and absolute support.

There is too much talent in the team and he is not the best by any means. He will always be behind that alien named Pogacar, and has not proved to be better than Almeida yet, plus del Toro is coming strong as a new and (maybe unexpected) competitor.

Also, what are Tudor tactics? Michael Storer was struggling in Mortirolo and was dropped with no teammates nearby that could help him. Only Florian Stork was ahead of him, fighting for the win in the breakaway.

However, as soon as Stork was caught by the peloton, he should have waited for Storer to minimize his time loss as much as possible. Tudor is fighting to secure guaranteed wildcards for the World Tour races next season and a good GC placement for Storer is crucial for that objective.

And a brief mention to Tom Pidcock...his Giro has been very disappointing, especially after his stunning start of the season, which gave us hopes to see his best version again. However, that was just an illusion.

He's been almost invisible so far, but today the finish suited his abilities and Q36.5 worked quite hard with Damien Howson to catch the break and left him in a very good position to fight for the victory...all for nothing. He was dropped right after del Toro launched and lost time to most of the GC contenders once again.

At this point I don't think he will give up the GC, but he and the team should definitely reevaluate many things after the Giro. Pidcock is just not a GC rider in Grand Tours, giving him the freedom to chase stage wins would be much more fruitful. He is locked inside the GC cage, please Q36.5 free this man in the future.

It was excellent to witness Del Toro rise from the ashes today, however I can't help but wonder what were Polti, Movistar or Q36.5 trying to achieve by chasing the breakaway today - surely they couldn't expect Piganzoli/Rubio/Pidcock to triumph against Carapaz and the other big guns.

The main take from stage 17 is therefore the clear message from Isaac that the Giro is not over yet and few more men dropping out of the GC. Gutted for Romain Bardet who did everything perfectly today though...