Actually, everything is as it should be. Isaac del Toro is wearing the pink jersey and also has the white jersey, that of the best young rider. But appearances are deceptive. Just one day earlier, Isaac del Toro's team had decided to make a change in the captaincy. Juan Ayuso had already got into trouble time and again and it was questionable when exactly the time would come for the Spaniard to take the pink jersey from Isaac del Toro again.
Del Toro new captain since Monday
On the second rest day of the Giro d'Italia, the time had finally come. The change of captaincy was announced in passing by those responsible for the team. "Our idea, our goal is to ride compactly around our captain Isaac del Toro," said Fabio Baldato, the team's sporting director.
Our idea, our goal is to drive compactly around our captain Isaac del Toro - Fabio Baldato
For many outsiders, this move was not only logical, but long overdue. Isaac del Toro had been the strongest rider up to that point and it almost seemed as if no other overall class rider could compete with the young Mexican.
Juan Ayuso explodes on the mountain
On the penultimate climb of the day, the Santa Barbara pass, Ayuso fell back from the group of overall contenders. At first he was able to fight his way back, but by the second time it was all over for him. According to a reporter, he angrily punched his handlebars on the support bike, unhappy with his own performance. Ayuso then disappeared from the cameras until the finish and rolled across the finish line visibly exhausted, 14:47 minutes behind the winner. It's nothing new for general classification riders to go over their limits and pay for it with a few minutes at the finish, but losing almost a quarter of an hour shows how important the change of captain, UAE Team Emirates - XRG, was the day before.
Carapaz also shows del Toro his limits
On top of all the drama, everything really seemed to go wrong for the dominant team yesterday. On the final climb up to San Valentino, Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) launched a powerful attack with around 5 kilometres to go. In a short time, the Ecuadorian was able to pull clear of del Toro and Simon Yates (Team Visma | Lease a Bike). But that was not enough. About a kilometre later, Yates was also able to break away from his rival and ride to the finish with a clear lead. A few days earlier it looked like a one-two for UAE Team Emirates - XRG in the overall classification, but suddenly the seconds just melted away. Isaac del Toro still wears the leader's jersey, but after the 16th stage he is only 26 seconds ahead of Simon Yates and 31 seconds ahead of Richard Carapaz. Derek Gee (Israel - Premier Tech) was also able to improve to 1:31 minutes behind del Toro.
Loss for Team UAE - excitement for the Giro
With Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro, Team UAE has three riders who could be in contention for the overall classification. That can work as long as the riders are happy with their roles and the strongest of the three is the captain. Whilst Yates has played the role of helper from the start, del Toro wanted to prove that he too can compete for the overall classification.
The coming stages will probably show whether the Giro is still winnable for del Toro's team. However, if Richard Carapaz can make up so much time on the first of the four difficult mountain stages, there is a big question mark over del Toro for the next few days. Even Simon Yates, who seems to be in the form of his life, could challenge del Toro for the pink jersey.
Leon Weidner
Working student
