Carlos Verona Wins Sixth Giro Stage for Lidl-Trek

Carapaz attacks

The move was instigated by the always aggressive Richard Carapaz (EF Education–EasyPost), who was soon joined by all the GC contenders – race leader Isaac del Toro and Juan Ayuso (both UAE Team Emirates–XRG), Simon Yates (Visma–Lease a Bike), Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman (both INEOS Grenadiers), Damiano Caruso and Antonio Tiberi (both Bahrain Victorious) and Derek Gee (Israel–Premier Tech). In other words all the GC contenders of this Giro were together, everyone except the Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe leader.

His domestiques, Dani Martínez and Giulio Pollizzari, worked hard to pull Roglič over the climb and cut down the deficit, and they eventually managed to stabilize it – but the damage had been done. The Slovenian crossed the finish line a whopping 1:30 behind his GC rivals and 1:59 behind the brave stage winner, Carlos Verona, who gave his Lidl-Trek team its sixth stage victory of the race. Roglič now sits 10th in the GC standings, 3:53 behind del Toro.

Is Roglič done?

That’s the question. Roglič has looked uncharacteristically passive over the past two weeks, raising concern over his fitness. In any case, his first words to TNT after Sunday’s stage were not reassuring: “I’m just happy that I finished,” he said. But worse news was soon to come.

Red Bull sports director Christian Pömer then put his future in the race in question. Asked if Roglič will still be in the race after Monday’s rest day, he said, “I think this decision is up to the medical team. Health comes first. The team doctor has the final say and will assess whether Primož can continue.”

The 2023 Giro winner was one of several riders to crash or be impeded on Saturday’s stage 14, on a stretch of cobblestone in the Slovenian city of Nova Gorica made slippery by rain. That crash also affected several of the main contenders such as Ayuso and Bernal, and forced Lidl-Trek’s GC candidate Giulio Ciccone to drop out of the race after the stage.

“There’s no point hiding that he’s not feeling well or in pain,” Pömer went on to say. “We tried to hide it a little, and that worked until today, but today we got a reality check.” Apparently, a decision on Roglič staying in the race will be made on Monday. However, if he does continue, a gap of nearly 4 minutes is a lot of time to make up in a week, even a week in which there is so much climbing. Yes, Roglič made up nearly 5 minutes on Ben O’Connor in last year’s Vuelta, but – no offense to O’Connor – he is no del Toro.

It was the second time Roglič crashed in the race. He first fell off his bike on one of the white gravel sectors on stage 9, where he first lost substantial time to del Toro after also suffering a flat. However, his performance in the stage-10 ITT, which followed a rest day, suggested that he had come out of the incident unscathed.

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A domestique’s triumph

Ciccone’s abandon on Saturday emboldened Lidl-Trek’s reliable domestique Carlos Verona to surge out of a lead group of riders with 42km left to in the stage. The 32-year-old Italian rode a stunning solo all the way to the finish line for only the second professional victory of his 14-year career. It was also his first Grand Tour win, which came in his sixteenth Grand Tour. His win was popular in the peloton and also gave Lidl-Trek its sixth stage victory in the race.

“Everything changed” after Ciccone abandoned the race, Verona said. “Today I was riding with my mind and my legs, especially for Ciccone, because I know how much he worked for this race, how many sacrifices he [made]. When you are a helper, you need to be there to help them. When they’re not here, you need to also be there for the team.”

This Giro’s brutal third week will have about 23,000 meters of climbing, beginning with what is undoubtedly the race’s Queen Stage on Tuesday, with an estimated 4,900 meters of elevation gained. Two big questions remain to be answered: Will Roglič be fit enough to continue and who in heaven’s name is the UAE team leader, del Toro or Ayuso?

Saturday’s crash also affected Ayuso, who now sits third in the GC, 1:26 behind his teammate and 6 seconds behind Simon Yates. The team’s motives and tactics regarding their two young stars are as mysterious as the movement of the tides. For example, on Sunday del Toro reacted immediately to an early attack by Bernal with about 92km left to ride, on the interminable category 1 climb to the summit of Monte Grappa (25.1km @ 5.7%, with ramps up to 11%). But he was ordered by his team not to take part in the attack.

The reason? Who knows. Maybe they didn’t want Ayuso to lose any more time, presumably because the sports directors want to have two weapons to throw at their main rivals in the big climbs of week 3. Also, Ayuso’s climbing ability is well established, but del Toro has not yet proven himself on the long-steep climbs he will face this week. However, the 21-year-old Mexican has shown no weaknesses so far in the race, has avoided all of the crashes that hampered Roglič and Ayuso and has exhibited the same all-conquering charisma of his team leader and mentor, Tadej Pogačar. And when he steps on the pedals, del Toro even looks like Pogi.

This week will reveal if he also climbs like him.