Another day of attacking in the mountains sees Richie well-placed ahead of the final mountain stage
Richard Carapaz put in another outstanding performance at the Giro d’Italia on stage 19. The EF Education-EasyPost leader attacked twice during the race’s toughest day in the mountains so far, first with 21.3km to go and then again with 6.8km remaining.
Richie’s second move off the front of the maglia rosa group could only be matched by race leader Isaac Del Toro as the rest of the GC favorites looked to limit their losses.
At the finish in Champoluc, Riche took a well-deserved third place, a result that saw him maintain and even extend his position in the overall standings. He now sits 43 seconds off the race lead, with third-placed rider Simon Yates losing almost half a minute to the EF Education-EasyPost leader.
“I think we all were quite on the limit, but I still wanted to give it a go and try, and I think it was a pretty good stage,” Richie said at the finish.
“I left some guys behind on the GC, arriving with Del Toro, and I’m happy about that. We kept it fast at the top,” he added.
With one stage in the high mountains remaining, courtesy of the high altitude finish at Sestrière, the battle for the 2025 Giro d’Italia remains on a knife-edge, with Richie still in the hunt for his second overall title.
Stage 19 began at a relentless pace with EF Education-EasyPost able to send both Darren Rafferty and Georg Steinhauser in the breakaway. Both riders contributed to the pace setting as the rest of the team rallied around Richie over the first few climbs.
The team set the pace at various points on the Col Saint-Pantaléon, with Steinhauser putting in another Herculean effort at the front of the maglia rosa group once he was caught on the Col de Joux, before Richie made a tentative attack to test his key rivals.
Despite not having the double-digit gradients that Richie thrives on, the final ascent of Antagnod saw Richie attack for a second time, and this time he was able to break free with only the race leader able to follow. The pair shared the pace to the line before Richie came home in third, with everything still to play for on Saturday’s final mountain stage.
Sports director, Juanma Gárate, gave his view on tomorrow’s key stage.
“Tomorrow we expect a lot of heat, as it was today, which affected a lot of riders. The Colle delle Finestre is a climb that feels eternal, endless. Never ends. Everything can happen, it’s true that after that, you still need to get to Sestriere, and even if the wind is favorable tomorrow, it takes a lot to get there. I did it in 2005, and it’s pretty hard,” he said.
Juanma is confident that Richie is heading into the stage with the best form he’s had since pulling on an EF Education-EasyPost jersey.
“Richie is really good, he has done so much work, to adapt to the riders and the team, and so did the team with him. Now he is in his best moment since he joined our team and he already had a good moment going into and during the Vuelta last year, but now he is more solid, he is the Richard Carapaz we all know, the one who can dispute the Grand Tours. Now he is in a good moment,” Juanma said.
