Giro d'Italia. In Castelnovo ne' Monti Richard Carapaz won in his own way

We saw them continually sprinting in search of escape, fleeing, chasing each other, trying to escape again. Pedaling for over an hour and a half at more than fifty miles an hour. And then looking up at the sky, following the profile of the mountain, making sure to reach the top as soon as possible. And it was not an easy climb, the Alpe di San Pellegrino. A blade that aimed at the clouds, capable of carving deep furrows on calves and quadriceps .

The riders did not spare themselves during the eleventh stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025. Not those who were chasing a daily joy: Pello Bilbao, Luke Plapp, Wout Poels, Nairo Quintana, especially Lorenzo Fortunato, a solitary vanguard towards the summit of Alpe di San Pellegrino. Nor those who were chasing the pink jersey, nor the gregarious who tried to help them: Mads Pedersen above all, a fugitive towards the Alpe, caught and detached from the group of the strongest, but capable of coming back and pulling kilometers and kilometers through the Apennines. Chapeau, to him. Chapeau, to everyone. For the show they gave us. Above all for having shown that even the Apennines, and not just the Alps, can give wonderful stages.

The candidates for the final victory were provoked.

Egan Bernal made a quick dash toward the top of Alpe di San Pellegrino, just to see if he could fool himself into going crazy or at least see the effect it had on other people's legs. On the last Grand Prix of the mountain today, Isaac Del Toro tried to find solitude in the manner of the Siena stage , but without really being too convinced of finding it.

Richard Carapaz was much more determined. The Ecuadorian sprinted up the road that climbed towards Pietra di Bismantova. A shot in his own way, violent and determined. And then off he went as he knows how, as he has already shown he can do: head down and never looking back, in the manner of a sure Locomotora that following the tracks can get anywhere.

He arrived under the finish banner of Castelnovo ne' Monti alone, arms wide, fist in the air, proud smile. The Ecuadorian believes in the possibility of winning this Giro d'Italia, his second Giro d'Italia . And it matters little about the delay accumulated up to now: he accumulated it all in the time trials and there are no more time trials between here and Rome. And it matters little above all if few, besides him and his team, believe that it is truly possible.

On July 2, 2023, after having become one with the Basque asphalt of the Tour de France the day before , Richard Carapaz said that as long as you are racing, nothing is impossible and that if someone thinks something is impossible, perhaps they don't really love cycling.

The EF Education-EasyPost rider will try again. He will try to leave Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso, the favorites of the many, behind him. He will also try to send Isaac Del Toro off his feet. And this could be much more difficult.

The Mexican will start from Modena tomorrow wearing the pink jersey. And he has no intention of abandoning it. Also because when he looks around he doesn't see anyone who pedals as easily as him. Isaac Del Toro, both on the climb that led to Pietra di Bismantova and on the small climb that led to the finish line, seemed to be joking with himself, he gave the feeling that he could leave everyone behind at any moment, but without finding the courage or the moment to actually do it. He crossed the finish line second, in the last meters he turned to look back three times, perhaps to see where his teammate Juan Ayuso was, perhaps to look all the others in the face and tell them that they will have to deal with him until the last mountain stage. Isaac Del Toro doesn't lack conviction. He doesn't lack the ability to be the advocate of his own future.

In solidarity with the riders who run the Giro d'Italia, here we decided to tell the stages of the Giro d'Italia doing their same hard work: a letter per meter of altitude difference. Here is the story of the eleventh stage, Viareggio - Castelnovo n' Monti, 186 kilometers and 3,850 meters of altitude difference, in 3,850 characters (spaces included).

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