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

The break is mopped up ahead of the summit before Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) comes to the front to lead the strung-out peloton down the short descent. He’s there for a while before an EF rider comes over to take the reins – but Georg Steinhauser, who won a stage last year, is unable to force a break to follow him.

Munoz has already been dropped as the road kicks up on an early uncategorised climb. The trio has a couple of riders trying to bridge over from the pack, but the gaps are still very small and it’s far from a done deal.

Fabio Van den Bossche (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Owain Doull (EF Education-EasyPost), Francisco Munoz (Polti VisitMalta) and Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CFS-Faizane) have carved out a small gap, but they’re being chased down by a cluster or riders, including Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) who is clearly motivated by the ciclamino points up for grabs in the first intermediate sprint.

And there’s an attack from the outset from Sunday’s winner in Siena, Wout van Aert. The Belgian all-rounder from Visma-Lease a Bike has clearly found his legs. The move is closed down but it’s going to be that kind of beginning to the stage.

The riders will leave Tuscany today and pass into Emilia Romagna at the top of the first big climb, Alpe San Pellegrino. It’s currently sunny down by the coast but there are very ominious-looking grey clouds above the mountains on the horizon so we can perhaps expect some showers once the race enters the Garfagnana valley ahead of today’s climbs.

What may have been a rasping battleground in the fight for pink – the long-awaited return of the Alpe San Pellegrino in Stage 11 – has been somewhat dulled by the positioning of the brutal climb right in the middle of the 186km stage through the Apuan Alps.

An average gradient of 8.8% over 13.7km comes to a cruel crescendo in a series of switchbacks near the summit where the ramps reach 19%. But a long 40km descent afterwards will offer the opportunity for dropped riders to rejoin the party ahead of the next two shorter and easier climbs.

Here's the profile for the 186.5km stage from Viareggio to Castelnovo ne' Monti, which is one of the six key stages I picked out for my route preview for this Giro.

He crashed on Sunday and dropped to tenth, then battled back to fifth after a solid time trial in the rain - despite hitting the deck on the wet flagstones in training. Could we see the Roglic revival continue today? He doesn't have much of a team around him following Jai Hindley's withdrawal - but Giulio Pellizzari has been solid while Dani Martinez and Jan Tratnik will surely come good.

Egan Bernal slipped out of the top 10 yesterday but his team-mate Thymen Arensman is now tenth, while Primoz Roglic is back into the top five, as Ciccone and Carapaz drop.

Simon Yates is looking ominously strong - and he's one of only three riders in the top 10 to have won a Grand Tour before. The others being that man Roglic and Richard Carapaz.

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
2. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +0:25
3. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +1:01
4. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Vike) +1:03
5. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +1:18
6. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2:00
7. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2:06
8. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +2:07
9. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +2:10
10. Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) +2:27

Juan Ayuso took 48 seconds back on his team-mate Isaac del Toro in yesterday’s time trial as the Spaniard moved to within 25 seconds of the Mexican’s lead on GC. With Adam Yates and Brandon McNulty also in the top 10, UAE Team Emirates-XRG have options galore in the fight for pink.

While you get the impression that Ayuso is still their plan A, it’s not hugely clear where he will take over the reins – because summit finishes on this Giro are at a premium, with just one more to go.

It's worth remembering that UAE have never won a Grand Tour with a rider other than Tadej Pogacar. They are clearly the strongest team here in the Giro - but will it be hard juggling with all the ambitions of their riders?

Yesterday, wet roads wreaked havoc for the GC riders as towering Dutchman Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) caused an upset with victory in the Stage 10 time trial between Lucca and Pisa. Primoz Roglic was the big winner as he leapt back into the top five while Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) held onto pink in heavy rain. The Mexican now leads team-mate Juan Ayuso by 25 seconds.

Good morning cycling fans – and are you ready to be entertained? If yesterday’s time trial was a bit of a damp squib (albeit quite an exciting one, all things considered) then today’s eleventh stage should heat things up a little.

Granted, there’s no showpiece summit finish – but the riders will have to tackle the hardest climb in this year’s Giro, as the fearsome Alpe San Pellegrino makes its return to the race after many years in the wilderness. Indeed, the last time the race ventured to the roof of the Apuan Alps, a certain Matt Stephens was still plying his trade… riding his only Grand Tour for the Linda McCartney Racing Team.