Giro d'Italia 2025 Stage 11 recap - Richard Carapaz reignites GC push with fine solo win as Isaac del Toro extends lead

A perfectly-timed attack – just as the remnants of the day’s breakaway was being mopped up on the final climb of the day – saw Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EastPost) establish an unassailable lead in the business end of Stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia.

The rain started to fall, but nothing could dampen Carapaz’s morale as the 2019 champion from Ecuador held on to take a fourth career stage win on the Giro and rose back to sixth place in the standings after an absurdly tough day in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.

Pink jersey Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) stole a march on his rivals to win the sprint for second place and pocket six bonus seconds, which saw the Mexican 21-year-old move 31 seconds clear of Spanish team-mate Juan Ayuso in the general classification.

For all the hard work of his Lidl-Trek team-mates – notably the maglia ciclamino Mads Pedersen – Italy’s Giulio Ciccone could only take third place in Castelnovo ne’ Monti, which was enough to see him rise to seventh place in the standings but not the Prosecco finale his team would have envisaged.

Read on for full stage 11 report here.

There’s no change in the top five but the Mexican man in pink is now 31 seconds clear of his team-mate Juan Ayuso. Richard Carapaz, meanwhile, rides three places to sixth, while McNulty and Adam Yates both drop two places.

Here’s the current top 10 after Stage 11:

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
2. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +0:31
3. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +1:07
4. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Vike) +1:09
5. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +1:24
6. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +1:56
7. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +2:09
8. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2:16
9. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2:33
10. Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) +2:33

1. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost)
2. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +10
3. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) "
4. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) "
5. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) "
6. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) "
7. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) "
8. Einer Rubio (Movistar) "
9. Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) "
10. Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) "

The likes of Primoz Roglic, Simon Yates, Thymen Arensman and Michael Storer all finished in the main group at 10 seconds, but Brandon McNulty finished +20 and Adam Yates +31.

The Mexican is the first over the line to pocket the six bonus seconds ahead of Giulio Ciccone, who settles for four seconds after all that work from his Lidl-Trek team.

The 2019 champion from EF Education-EasyPost pulls off a coup with a splendid late solo attack to win Stage 11 in style. That’s his fourth win on the Giro but his first since 2019.

He’s going to add a fourth Giro stage win to his name as he passes under the banner with 17 seconds. There’ll be a sprint behind for the remaining bonus seconds…

The gap is down to 21 seconds as Richard Carapaz grits his teeth and digs in. Behind, it’s Pello Bilbao, who was in the break, who leads the chase – but no one looks capable of or willing to put in the counter-move.

But nothing will dampen Carapaz’s party as he rides towards victory. The 3km rule is in force and everyone gets through that unscathed. Our lone leader has 25 seconds.

The 2019 champion has timed this one to perfection – not only has he put in the killer attack, he’s read the room perfectly. UAE are happy to control the gap behind through Majka and Yates, with their GC men Ayuso and Del Toro in their wheel.

Over the top of the climb goes Carapaz with 31 seconds to play with. It’s a lumpy plateau to the line with a small climb and then a steady rise to the finish.

The Ecuadorian has 20 seconds now as he comes within 2.5km of the summit. Behind, there’s been a regrouping after that initial dig from the pink jersey. All the big GC favourites are back and UAE have put a lid on things.

The pink jersey dances on the pedals and takes a few riders with him – but no Ayuso or Roglic, who sit back and stare at each other.

Just as the four remaining riders are caught, Richard Carapaz (EF) darts clear and opens up a small gap over the UAE-led pack.

The break are onto the climb and they have just 30 seconds to play with now as EF, Lidl and Bahrain flock to the front, with Ineos there too. Poels presses the panic button and pushes on. Fortunato drops back but the others follow – but they will soon be caught.

His work done, Mads Pedersen drops back from a main peloton that has been whittled down to around 40 riders. The GC teams have now taken over with Red Bull, UAE, Visma and Ineos all present. The gap is 50 seconds.

The pace has eased as the riders near the Cat.2 rise to Pietra di Bismantova, which is 5.8km at 5.8%. The gap is still 55 seconds and so it’s in the balance.

The Briton is off the back being held by a team-mate while he takes a leak onto the road. It’s the last chance for him to answer the call of nature before the finale, where he will hope to break his Giro duck. But Lidl-Trek are clearly motivated, while the capture of the breakaway will also coax the GC favourites out to play – especially with the time bonuses factored in.

The Basque veteran opts for the wrong side of a roundabout – and that forces him to take the long route and lose touch with the break. When he rejoins his fellow four escapees, the gap has dropped below the one-minute mark. Pedersen and Verona have really strung out the pack behind.

Pedersen continues the pursuit on the descent and UAE’s Majka lets a gap open up, which then forces several Lidl-Trek riders to come around the Pole and tuck in behind the great Dane. The triple stage winner really wants to set things up for his team-mate Guilio Ciccone, or perhaps Mathias Vacek, today. It’s been a stonking ride from the maglia ciclamino, who was sniffing around earlier in the stage alongside Wout van Aert before getting into the day’s break. The gap is 1’05".

It’s the Italian in blue, Lorenzo Fortunato, who zips clear in pursuit of yet another prize. But Quintana is having nothing of it and darts round him to nick it on the line in Villa Minozzo. The Colombian will take the six bonus seconds and book in a visit to the podium later today. The peloton comes through, with Mads Pedersen doing the honours, 1’20" behind.