On the Colle delle Finestre, Simon Yates snatched the pink jersey from Isaac del Toro with an impressive performance. UAE Team Emirates - XRG experienced a sporting fiasco on the penultimate day of the Tour of Italy. No more team-mates for del Toro, the leader had to relinquish the pink jersey. However, the passive riding style of del Toro, who only looked at Richard Carapaz and made no effort to close the ever widening gap to Yates himself, caused some surprise.
Simon Yates pulverises Chris Froome's time
Fabio Baldato, sporting director of the team from the Emirates, is self-critical of the events. In an interview with the Italian trade magazine Bicisport the Italian admits that the team made tactical mistakes and underestimated Simon Yates in particular. "We certainly underestimated Simon," explains Baldato. "He was outstanding on Saturday. You can see that in his climbing times." The Visma-Lease a Bike rider set a new best time of just under an hour on the Colle delle Finestre and was almost five minutes faster than Chris Froome in 2018 on his hussar ride. While Yates pulled away, del Toro and Richard Carapaz neutralised each other. Baldato describes the situation as a "mental and physical battle between Isaac and Richard Carapaz".
We have certainly underestimated Simon - Fabio Baldato
A key point of criticism is the passive race tactics of del Toro and the UAE team. Baldato admits that the Mexican was not sufficiently encouraged to follow up: "Halfway up the climb, we encouraged Isaac to keep Yates in check as well, but we only did that once." This cautious communication proved to be a serious mistake. However, the sporting director also tries to explain the young del Toro's perspective: "His goal was to reach the summit with Carapaz. He decided to save energy for the final." Baldato emphasises that del Toro ultimately made this decision himself. "Isaac knew how much energy he had left. And we mustn't forget that he is still very young."
Isaac del Toro with respect for Richard Carapaz
Another factor that played a role, according to Baldato, was respect for the experienced Richard Carapaz. "Carapaz had already won a grand tour once, so there was respect and also some fear," explains the Italian. This assessment contributed to the fact that the team focussed too much on Carapaz and underestimated Yates' danger. Despite the disappointment of missing out on overall victory, Baldato is also self-critical: "It hurts Isaac, me and everyone in the team. Maybe I should have told him again: 'You have to go now, you have to chase'."
For UAE Emirates XRG, it is now important to draw the right conclusions from the Giro final. Baldato also sees the events as a learning process for the talented del Toro: "It's easy to analyse and judge with hindsight. Isaac knew how much energy he still had." The sporting director emphasised that the Mexican's youth and relative inexperience should not be disregarded in such a situation. In conclusion, Baldato also recognised the winner's performance despite his own mistakes: "The strongest and smartest won."
