“The biggest questions are for UAE” - Phillipa York grills Del Toro and UAE after Giro d’Italia collapse

Stage 20 of the 2025 Giro d’Italia will go down in history, not just for the emotional victory of Simon Yates, but for the tactical disarray that unfolded on the slopes of the Colle delle Finestre. In her analysis for Cycling News, former pro rider Philippa York offered sharp insight into the chaos, pointing fingers at UAE Team Emirates – XRG and reflecting on what she calls a “fairytale” outcome for Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

“Picture the scene in the Visma-Lease a Bike team bus on the morning of the 20th stage of this fairytale edition of the Giro d'Italia,” York wrote. “The previous day has been disappointing for Simon Yates, accusations were being bandied around about whether the team had followed the plan or not. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) had taken 21 seconds on the last climb thanks to their more explosive capabilities and Yates had found himself captured in the group of GC hopefuls.”

But the real focus of York’s analysis lay in the unfolding drama between UAE and EF Education-EasyPost, and the apparent lessons not learned from past Grand Tours.

“Remember the Primož Roglič and Vingegaard against Pogačar on the Col du Galibier?” York asked. “Jumbo (Visma) versus UAE, and the latter made the tactical error of having their man isolated. Surely they wouldn’t make the same tactical errors again. On that occasion by giving out the wrong instructions to Pogačar, he ought to have let Roglič escape and then wait for teammates in the next group, but longer term in how they had already used up the team in the previous stages, which led to the situation being out of control.”

“Letting Wout van Aert be in the stage 19 break with no one from UAE to cover potential GC moves suggested otherwise.”

While many fans and pundits have been quick to assign blame to individuals, particularly Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz, York suggested that such finger-pointing may be missing the bigger picture.

“There are lots of theories on what occurred on the slopes of Colle delle Finestre: redemption for Simon Yates after the Froome attack in 2018; Isaac del Toro should have collaborated with Carapaz; the EF leader ought to have ridden even when he knew he couldn’t drop the Maglia Rosa because second is better than third. It seems to be coming down to attaching blame to individuals' choices at the crucial moments but that’s missing the point.”

York continued by unpacking the questionable tactics from both rivals.

“Yes, we could say del Toro should have ridden with Carapaz. Or why didn’t Carapaz just close the gap when he had the chance before the gravel section? He was strong enough, maybe del Toro could have done so too. But he chose not to either.”

“The tactical errors of the moment were apparent. Carapaz wasn’t prepared to drag del Toro along and do the chasing for him, even though the race leader would have been far from comfortable.”

But the harshest critique was reserved for UAE Team Emirates’ overall planning, not just in the moment, but across the entire Giro campaign.

“However, the biggest questions are for UAE Team Emirates and not only for their decisions on the day. The malaise goes deeper and extends further in the planning than just these final stages. They haven’t learned the lessons of Pogačar and the Col du Granon defeat.”

“They made the wrong calls then and they made dubious ones again on the way to Sestriere. Del Toro could have ridden with Carapaz on the gravel section, even if the Ecuadorian escaped over the top, it was likely the maglia rosa could have come back on the descent.”