“I feel sorry for del Toro” – Team bosses react to Isaac del Toro’s heartbreaking Giro defeat to Simon Yates

Simon Yates is officially the 2025 Giro d’Italia champion, sealing the pink jersey with an unforgettable attack on Stage 20’s brutal ascent of the Colle delle Finestre. But while the cycling world celebrates Yates’ fairytale comeback, team bosses and sports directors across the peloton are reflecting on what went wrong for UAE Team Emirates - XRG, and why Isaac del Toro lost the Maglia Rosa.

For Roberto Reverberi, sports director of VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè, the first surprise came well before the climb began.

“Yesterday I was surprised right from the start,” he told Italian media. “Why send away a breakaway of thirty riders with ten minutes to go? Usually, you don't do that in the queen stage of the Giro. A couple of riders from UAE and a couple from EF would have been enough to keep the attackers at bay.”

Reverberi suggested that allowing Wout van Aert into the break ultimately created the perfect storm for Yates and Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

“With the breakaway at 4–5 minutes, Van Aert would never have reached the top in front of Yates. And instead this move by Visma, which I don't know if it was voluntary or not, turned out to be decisive in the end.”

Tactically, Reverberi questioned Del Toro’s passivity when Yates launched his decisive attack.

“Usually in these cases the responsibility of pulling is on the pink jersey, so maybe del Toro should have immediately tried to close on Yates, without waiting for Carapaz. Maybe after a while the Ecuadorian would have also collaborated, to defend the second place. But you know, in the end it's the legs that count, and the Mexican probably didn't have more than that.”

He was also in awe of Yates’ performance on the Finestre, which was historically fast.

“I saw Simon personally when they stopped our team car that was behind the breakaway: no one climbed like him, he had a completely different pace. Let's not forget that he took four minutes less than Froome in 2018: so yes, he went very fast.”

Valerio Piva, who worked closely with Yates during his time at Jayco AlUla, said the Brit’s experience and growth as a rider were key.

“Yates is experienced and knows how to manage himself, he didn't make the mistake he made seven years ago,” Piva noted. “Yesterday was the queen stage of this Giro, we knew it and it turned out to be decisive. For the rest, I prefer to look at my own home: we at Jayco closed the Giro with two stage victories, we are very satisfied.”

Meanwhile, Tudor’s sports director Matteo Tosatto emphasised that tactical missteps may have played a role, but in the end, it was the strongest rider who won.

“In the end, in my opinion, the strongest always wins. Maybe there were some tactical errors: we should understand what happened between del Toro and Carapaz, if the Mexican had the legs to follow Yates.”

“However, Simon ran with great intelligence: he took advantage of Carapaz's super aggressive tactics, he didn't respond at the first sprints, then he took advantage of the marking between the first two and went away. They are happy for him, because he closed a circle that opened seven years ago, even if I have to admit that I feel sorry for del Toro, a boy who will have a great future.”