Del Toro Snatches Giro dell’Emilia Win from Pidcock

The Briton had launched a promising solo break with 1.8 km left to ride in the 199.2 km race from Mirandola to San Luca, outside Bologna, halfway up the fifth ascent of the San Luca climb (2.1 km @ 9.4%), and quickly built a decent gap on the other favourites, including del Toro, Primož Roglič (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe), Richard Carapaz (EF Education–EasyPost) and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious). But he tired on the steep slopes of the climb, which had gradients up to 20.6%.

And del Toro is very good at doing nothing. He did nothing as his powerful UAE team took the steam out of his rivals by riding at a high pace much of the race, he did nothing as rider after rider initiated breaks on the final two ascents of the San Luca, and he did nothing but ride calmly in back of the chase group while Pidcock rode away to what looked like a certain victory. But he finally did something when the Briton rode under the Flamme Rouge, bursting out of the chase group and catching Pidcock 700 m from the line.

And then he did nothing again, as he calmly rode on his rival’s wheel until, with 250 m left to ride, he burst past him and took his 14th victory of the year, without seemingly breaking a sweat. Pidcock crossed the line a scant second behind the 21-year-old Mexican, and Martinez finished third, at 5 seconds, an impressive result in view of the fact that he rode after almost every attempted break on the final two climbs.

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“I was well protected the whole day, and the team did amazing work for me on each lap,” del Toro said after the race. “I was able to save energy and focus on the last climb, where, in the end, it was decided. I had the strength to close the last attack and win the race. I wasn’t sure I had it until about 50 m to go, and it’s a great feeling.”

As for Pidcock, he was left with mixed feelings after riding a strong race. “I’m happy to feel good again after La Vuelta,” he said. “Finishing second again is a bitter pill to swallow, but it’s always positive to be on the podium and a good way to start the final week of the season.”

The Q36.5 leader has a tough schedule next week as he will ride in the Tour of Lombardy on Saturday and the World Gravel Championships the following day. The narrow loss notwithstanding, he has had a breakout year, with an excellent podium finish in the Vuelta and numerous second places, such as in the Arctic Race of Norway. Though the victories have eluded him, he has impressed everyone with his newfound climbing ability, which he also demonstrated on Saturday. He is only 26 and will certainly get even better. It’s definitely not out of the question that, barring injury, he will challenge for Grand Tour and spring Classics victories in the near future.

And this was a high-profile race with many of the world’s best riders at the start line, not counting the top three – defending champion Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard, who are all riding in the European Road Championships. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) and Roglič finished fourth and fifth, respectively, just behind Martinez, while Carapaz was 11th, at 24 seconds.

2025 Men’s Giro dell’Emilia Results