Isaac del Toro gambled and lost on the Colle delle Finestre in a wild, historic turnaround at the Giro d’Italia on Saturday.
The Mexican sensation – owner of the maglia rosa for 11 days straight – crumbled out of pink on the final day of GC racing after Simon Yates provoked the 21-year-old into a high-stakes game of poker with Richard Carapaz.
“Everybody was playing. Visma played really well, we tried to play as well, and that’s it,” a shell-shocked Del Toro said at the finish line Saturday.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”
Yates clawed back five minutes and stole the Giro’s pink jersey Saturday in what was a stage for the ages.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s newly signed climber launched a huge raid over the towering, gravel-strewn Coll dell Finestre that left Carapaz and Del Toro floundering on Saturday’s 20th stage.
Del Toro bet the Ecuadorian would chase Yates to save his second-place overall.
Former Giro winner Carapaz had nothing to lose and left the 21-year-old to pull.
It was a high-stakes, high-altitude game of poker.
The result?
Yates took all the chips in an incredible “full circle” after the Brit’s Giro d’Italia was upended by Chris Froome on the same infamous climb in 2018.
“Carapaz told me he wasn’t going to help me because I didn’t help him when we were 20 seconds behind,” Del Toro said.
“I told him, OK. If I’ve already lost first place, I’m not going to lose second.”
It wasn’t to be for Isaac today, but to have spent 11 days in the Maglia Rosa at 21 years old is something to be incredibly proud of @ISAACDELTOROx1 is set to be the youngest #GirodItalia podium finisher in 85 years. He gave it everything #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/QSQxOj5FBT
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) May 31, 2025
No Giro 2025, but Del Toro isn’t done: ‘I believe I can do it’
Del Toro struggled to explain what happened in the final hours of a Giro d’Italia stage that will be played on repeat for years to come.
But he knew how to summarize.
“It wasn’t a gamble, I just did what I thought smartest,” he said.
Del Toro will finish in Rome on Sunday second overall, 3:56 back on Yates.
He won’t be the first Mexican to see his name on the Trofeo Senza Fine – or indeed, the first grand tour winner from his soccer-mad nation.
But “Torito” left a mark that won’t be forgotten.
A spectacular stage win, audacious aggression, and fan-winning manner will make 2025 the year a new kid on the block landed onto the world stage.
Del Toro is already drawing comparisons with Tadej Pogačar, and a contract with the UAE Emirates XRG super team through 2029 means his grand tour future seems guaranteed.
“If you see all the stages, and how I was as an individual rider, now I start to believe I can do it,” he said of his chances of winning the Giro in future.
“I think I did great races and was smart.”
✅ 2nd place GC
✅ Youth jersey
✅ 11 days in pink
✅ Winner stage 17
✅ 4 second place
✅ 1 third place
✅ 6 podium finishes
✅ RedBull Sprint leader
✅ Most bonus seconds taken
✅ First Mexican to ever lead a Grand Tour
✅ INFINITE RESPECTISAAC DEL… pic.twitter.com/jeHHgzIvkI
— Isaac del Toro Fan Club (@IsaacDelToroFC) May 31, 2025