Isaac del Toro wins Stage 17 after Mortirolo scare to tighten grip on maglia rosa at Giro d'Italia, Richard Carapaz climbs to second on GC

Isaac del Toro staged a superb recovery to win Stage 17 at the Giro d’Italia, just 24 hours after a bruising day in the mountains hinted his days in pink were numbered. The Mexican was on the ropes again on Wednesday’s run to Bormio when he dropped back on the mighty Mortirolo, but he regrouped magnificently before launching a late move to take a maiden Grand Tour stage win.

'Viva Mexico!' - Del Toro rips away to Stage 17 victory in latest GC twist

Video credit: TNT Sports

Mexico’s Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) capped his eighth day in the pink jersey with a rousing victory in Bormio to put to bed – at least for another 24 hours – those rankling rumours of his demise.

Dropped on the legendary Passo del Mortirolo, the pink jersey fought back with a vengeance to secure the first Grand Tour stage win of his burgeoning career and extend his lead at the top of standings to 41 seconds on Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) in this increasingly thrilling Giro d’Italia.

With his big rival Carapaz stuck to his back wheel, Del Toro darted clear of a select group of GC favourites on the final climb of Stage 17 in pursuit of lone leader Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL).

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French veteran Bardet was the last man standing from an initial 38-rider move and looked set to complete his clean sweep of Grand Tour stage wins just weeks before his impending retirement.

But the GC fireworks behind dashed Bardet’s hopes – and although he dug deep to stick with the Del Toro and Carapaz juggernaut when it drew level with 5km remaining, Del Toro’s last-gasp attack near the bottom of the technical two-tier descent saw him open an unassailable lead entering Bormio.

They say that only Giro champions win stages in Bormio – and so it may yet prove in 2025. The result was certainly a psychological boost for UAE and their leader as a delighted Del Toro celebrated with an ostentatious bow after securing Mexico’s first stage win in the Giro since 2002.

"I think this is my third or fourth podium in this year’s Giro – it’s incredible," Del Toro said after putting his wobble from Tuesday behind him. "Everyone wants this [pink jersey] and today I realised that I will never give up and I will always try and stay one step in front. I have nothing to lose. Today was not easier than yesterday but I had a better mentality."

'I will never give up' - Del Toro says he has 'nothing to lose' after extending Giro lead

Video credit: TNT Sports

Having finished in third place behind Bardet, Carapaz moved above Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) into second place, with the Briton leading home the chase group 15 seconds down after the tough 155km stage through the Alps.

The big loser of the day was Italy’s Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) who was dropped on the Mortirolo and crashed out of the top 10 to fifteenth place, almost 15 minutes in arrears.

As has become the custom for any rendez-vous with the mountains this May, Italy’s Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana) was showing off his blue jersey in the breakaway – chasing the KOM points that have mathematically secured him the race’s maglia azzurra, provided he reaches Rome in one piece.

After a fast and furious opening hour – which saw the peloton regularly split, on one occasion forcing a swashbuckling move from Del Toro as he attempted to put his rivals under pressure – Fortunato was one of 38 riders who made it into the day’s move along with, most notably, a quartet of Visma-Lease a Bike riders, paving the way for Yates, and that man Bardet.

It was Fortunato who took the points over the top of the first test of the day, the Cat. 2 Passo del Tonale, which the breakaway crested with a lead of almost four minutes over the peloton.

But the Italian had to settle for second place on the Cat. 1 Passo del Mortirolo, which was being ridden on the so-called easier or 'decaffeinated' side via the town of Monno for the first time since 1990.

Here, Portugal’s Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious) went over ahead of Fortunato and a chase group that included Bardet, Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step), Dani Martinez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek).

But it was also on the Mortirolo where the first shots were fired in the GC battle as Carapaz, the 2019 champion, looked to build on the in-roads he made over the weekend. Noticing that both Yates and Del Toro were struggling on the steepest section near the summit, the Ecuadorian put in an attack and went clear with Italy’s Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe).

Carapaz launches on Mortirolo as pink jersey Del Toro drops back

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Rather than panic, Del Toro stayed within his means and rode a mature race – relying on the support of his returning UAE team-mates and his fellow GC rivals to slowly bring Carapaz to heel on the long descent.

"I predicted with the team that something like this would happen," Del Toro said after the stage. "Of course, you don’t want to let all the GC riders go clear. But I went to them, I took it easy, I put a little bit of pressure on the other ones after the descent, then I just tried to relax and recover ahead of the last climb."

With Carapaz making his move, his German team-mate Steinhauser dropped back from the break – along with Visma’s Wilco Kelderman, Steven Kruijswijk, Dylan van Baarle and Bart Lemmen, who were able to help team-mate Yates at various stages of the business end of the race.

By now there were nine riders in the lead group with an advantage of just 1’30" as the final categorised climb of Le Motte approached. After the Carapaz move was neutralised, the chase was almost entirely being carried out by Australia's Damien Howson, who dropped back from the break to help pave the way for Q36.5 Pro Cycling team-mate Tom Pidcock.

But despite a fleeting attempt to attack ahead of the final Cat. 3 climb, Pidcock had little to play with when push came to shove – the British rider eventually crossing the line in 11th place.

After hearing news that his leader Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) had been dropped near the summit of the Mortirolo, Germany’s Stork went for broke on the final climb – provoking an instant response from Bardet, who was dreaming of that grand slam of stage wins after earlier career triumphs in the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana.

Bardet went clear with 10km remaining but only had 25 seconds on the pink jersey group, which was roused into action when Colombia’s Einer Rubio (Movistar) edged clear on the climb once his compatriot Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) had been dropped.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG, however, had other ideas. With Brandon McNulty dropping back from the breakaway to join forces with lieutenants Rafal Majka and Adam Yates, UAE teed up Del Toro’s decisive attack, which the Mexican unleashed inside the final moments of the climb.

Carapaz was the only rider who could go with the 21-year-old, and on the descent the duo soon drew level with Bardet, who busted a gut trying to keep his fleeting hopes of a stage win alive.

With Yates leading the chase behind, Del Toro attacked one of the final tight bends with gusto to open a gap and then ride clear ahead of the final kilometre. He crossed the line with his theatrical bow four seconds clear of Bardet and Carapaz, with Yates a further 11 seconds back ahead of the rest of the chasers.

Strong days in the saddle saw Pellizzari rise two places to seventh and Rubio enter a top 10 now deprived of Tiberi, who was dropped on the Mortirolo before battling to limit his losses. Storer, meanwhile, conceded four minutes and dropped three places to tenth, while Del Toro’s team-mate Juan Ayuso – who started this Giro as UAE’s leader – shipped over 35 minutes on a day to forget.

On a bittersweet day for Del Toro's UAE squad, Australia's Jay Vine – who would have been a key mountain lieutenant for the days ahead – was forced to abandon the race after falling unwell during the stage.

Canada’s Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) put in another solid display to consolidate his fourth place, at 1’57". With the top three now separated by 51 seconds, the GC battle is likely to take a momentary ceasefire on Thursday for the short 144km Stage 18 from Morbegno to Cesano Maderno which could reopen the doors to the sprinters or offer a plucky breakaway an opportunity to go the distance.

For Del Toro, it will be a chance to take a breather and secure a tenth day in the pink jersey ahead of two decisive days in the Alps which will decide the outcome of the 108th edition of La Corsa Rosa.

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