Spain’s Carlos Verona of Lidl-Trek won stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday while Team UAE’s Isaac Del Toro remains in the overall lead after a mountainous 219km stage from Fiume Veneto to Asiago.
Verona’s solo triumph was the 32-year-old’s first-ever win on a grand tour and Lidl-Trek’s sixth stage win on the 2025 Giro -- Mads Pedersen, with four, and Dan Hoole taking the other five.
The victory came, however, on a day that started badly for Lidl-Trek with the retirement of team leader Giulio Ciccone who pulled out injured after a difficult day in the saddle on Saturday.
Verona peeled away on the final climb and held a slender advantage over the peloton all the way to the line.
The 21-year-old Del Toro did enough to hold on to the lead, the Mexican remaining 1min 20sec ahead of Simon Yates with Spaniard Juan Ayuso third, six seconds further adrift -- small change given the mountains ahead.
“The whole country is behind me. It’s incredible, like a dream,” said Del Toro, who took the lead a week ago, and is now being followed by an increasing number of Mexicans arriving in Italy to support him.
Egan Bernal’s Ineos team were a chief protagonist during an eventful stage, with attacks on both big climbs.
“We have nothing to lose on this Giro, and everything to ride for,” Bernal said.
Second-placed Yates of Visma kept his powder dry the first time Bernal accelerated on the Monte Grappa 21km climb but Del Toro skipped after him with ease.
Yates followed them on their second doomed attack on the final climb, more aimed at killing off the fading hopes of pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic.
The Slovenian, who fell heavily on Saturday, suffered further serious damage to his aspirations, dropping out of the top five after losing another 1min 30sec.
Monday is a rest day ahead of a challenging final week culminating in Rome on June 1.
The time gaps across the top 10 riders should be shaken up from stage 16 with five monster climbs and a summit finish as the 21-day marathon enters the Alps.
The pure climbers such as Bernal, Yates and Richard Carapaz could cause more havoc there.
“The third week is where the action is,” said former Giro and Olympic champion Carapaz on Sunday.
This is followed by another mountain run that is an invitation to the downhill daredevils with two huge descents on stage 17.
The decider might be stage 19 with another five-mountain slog, while stage 20 has a giant 18.5km climb at 9.5 percent gradient to over 2000m altitude.
Ayuso and Del Toro have time, youth and a strong posse in hand, but former Grand Tour winners are lurking.
Yates, who won the Vuelta a Espana in 2018, is six seconds ahead of Ayuso, while 2019 Giro winner Carapaz of EF is a further 31sec off.
Another Giro winner, and 2019 Tour de France champion, Bernal is another 1min 30 back and poised to strike in a gruelling final week.
