'A chess game won by the smartest player' – Richard Carapaz revisits key moment of 2025 Giro d’Italia

After stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia, Richard Carapaz was stinging in his criticism of Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who had just surrendered the pink jersey to Simon Yates (Visma | Lease a Bike)

“He didn’t know how to race well. The smartest rider won,” Carapaz said of Del Toro’s part in the game of cat and mouse on the Finestre that allowed Yates to forge clear alone and win the Giro. 

At the finish of the Giro in Rome on Sunday evening, Carapaz took a more philosophical view of the previous day’s events when asked if he had any regrets about his strategy. “Yeah, I think now for me the third place is the same,” Carapaz said. “I gave it my all in the three weeks, and I would change nothing. I think this is the game, and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”

Speaking to Spanish-language media, however, Carapaz conceded that he should have worked with Del Toro on and after the Colle delle Finestre, where their deficit to Yates ballooned out to over four minutes.

“Yesterday was a chess game won by the smartest player,” Carapaz said. “For me, to a certain extent, I had a share of the responsibility, but well, that’s all. I'm happy with what I’ve done and I'm leaving with that.”

Carapaz, winner on the Giro in 2019 and second overall in 2022, had to settle for this place here, 4:43 behind Yates, despite looking like Del Toro’s most likely challenger ahead of the final weekend of the race. The Ecuadorian is set to ride the Tour de France in July, albeit with a likely focus on stage wins rather than the general classification.