"They prepared the ground for him" - Alberto Contador scolds Carapaz for Isaac del Toro's Giro d'Italia defeat
Cycling
The 20th and penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025 was one of the best grand tour stages you will ever see. When it seemed that we were destined to a duel between Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz, Simon Yates got in the middle and snatched the maglia rosa away.
The British Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider took advantage of the fight between the two Latin Americans to attack on the Finestre and leave them to waste time playing cat and mouse.
After the stage, Alberto Contador told Eurosport what he saw, "Yes, let's see. With a pass as hard as Colle delle Finestre, many things could happen and whoever had a good day, as in this case Simon Yates, could make the difference. I think the strategy of EF was also a determining factor.
"It's true that what they've done I think has really benefited Simon Yates, they prepared the ground for him. In fact, when Richard started, Simon was calm, he let him do it, Derek Gee did a great job. And then he did start to test, but we saw that he had very good legs. He was very angry yesterday at the end of the stage, Simon Yates was very angry with his team's tactics, he said that nothing had been done that had been talked about in the bus and that's because he had confidence in himself," he added.
Simon Yates to win Giro d'Italia 2025
Simon Yates finally won the Giro d'Italia, the second Grand Tour of his career, 3:56 ahead of Isaac del Toro and 4:43 ahead of Richard Carapaz. The 32-year-old Briton thus enters an exclusive club of riders who have won both the Giro and the Vuelta a España. And to make things more impressive, the victories happened 7 years apart!
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Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
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