After the climb, Carapaz did not want to work with Del Toro, and Del Toro ended up doing the same: “Carapaz told me he wasn't going to help me because I didn't help him when we were 20 seconds behind. I told him, OK. If I've already lost first place, I'm not going to lose second," he explained.
"I just wanted to be smart and not go crazy on the first attacks because it's a one-hour climb". He ended up resisting all of the moves, however what wasn't in the plan was a Simon Yates that delivered an incredible climb and was later helped by Wout van Aert, something UAE could not respond to this time around.
“I did what I thought was the smartest thing. I think they had two minutes at the top. I couldn't get him to within a minute of Simon and then have him attack me and win the Giro. That's what I told him. Everyone was playing. Visma played well, we tried to play equally well, but that's how it was. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose".
Del Toro can from this Giro onwards win a Grand Tour however, he is certain: “With all due respect to the great riders, I'm a fan of all of them, but watching all the stages and seeing my individual performance, I now believe I can do it, because I had a great race and a smart race. I can't believe it's like this, but the team was always with me. If I have to answer, yes, I think I could win this Giro".
But of course, there is a lot of disappointment in the mix: "50/50 disappointing. 50 for me and 50 for my teammates, because they deserve to win. But you have to realize how big this is, and it's not easy.”