'I've waited a long time for this' - Nicolas Prodhomme climbs to solo victory on stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia as Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz take time on rivals
Frenchman takes maiden Giro win after GC stalemate in the Valle d'Aosta, Del Toro remains in pink
After a long day in the breakaway on stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia, Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) climbed to a solo victory on Friday in Champoluc.
Despite a late GC skirmish on the slopes of the final climb - initiated by Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) - the Frenchman held on for a maiden stage win, finishing a minute ahead of Carapaz and Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Carapaz and Del Toro missed out on the stage win but put time into third-placed Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) with their late effort. Del Toro finished second to take two bonus seconds on Carapaz ahead of Saturday's penultimate stage.
Prodhomme had joined the breakaway of over 30 riders early on on Friday, and lasted the longest of them all, attacking with 28km to go on the Col de Joux. Behind, the group of favourites looked locked in a stalemate, but a late attack from Carapaz, marked by Del Toro, stretched the pair's lead at the top of the general classification.
"I've worked for a long time for the Giro," Prodhomme said afterwards. "I wanted to try to win a stage, I’ve waited a long time for this. I won my first race three weeks ago, and now I win here in the WorldTour at the Giro. I'm so happy, it’s been such a nice day for me."
"We never had much of a gap all day," he added. "My feeling was not good on the first climb, it was very steep and hard. My legs were starting to get better on the last climb, I saw the gap to the peloton wasn’t much so I had to take a risk. Before today, I'd had two top fives because I hadn't risked much. But today, I wanted to play for the win, it's super nice for me."
How it happened
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Stage 19 was set to be another big day of climbing at the Giro as the race moved into the Valle d’Aosta region and towards the Alps. Almost 5,000 metres of climbing were on the menu across five categorised climbs, including the summit finish to Champoluc.
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A huge breakaway eventually formed as the climbing began. More than 30 riders were initially up the road, although that number had dramatically reduced by the time the lead group approached the summit of the Col Saint-Pantaléon, a 16.5 kilometre category one ascent.
With 59 kilometres to go, eight riders were left at the head of the action including: Antonio Tiberi and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek) and Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla). The remnants of the peloton had been whittled down to just 15 names as Steven Kruijswijk (Visma-Lease a Bike) decimated the breakaway's slim advantage on the climb.
The break began to split on the Col de Joux as Verona, Tiberi and Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) clipped off the front of the group. Meanwhile, Kruijswijk continued his efforts in the GC group; EF Education-EasyPost aided with the pace setting as Richard Carapaz kept tabs on Simon Yates ahead of a potential scrap unfolding in the fight for overall victory.
Prodhomme was the first man over the top as Carapaz looked to test his rivals' legs back down the road. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was also active towards the summit, but the GC group remained packed together as the descent began.
With nine kilometres to go, Prodhomme appeared to be set for the stage win. The Frenchman pushed his advantage to more than a minute and half as he began the ascent to Antagnod. A late attack from Richard Carapaz was tracked by Del Toro, the only rider in the GC group capable of tracking the move.
While Prodhomme held on for the stage win, Decathlon’s first of the race, Carapaz and Del Toro put time into all of their rivals, including Simon Yates. Del Toro came home in second place with Carapaz taking third.
1. Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, in 4:50:35 2. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +58s 3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, at same time 4. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +1:22 5. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 6. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, 7. Simon Yates (GBr) Visma-Lease a Bike, 8. Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 9. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, 10. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, all at same time
General classification after stage 19
1. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 73:47:59 2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +43s 3. Simon Yates (GBr) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:21 4. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech, +2:32 5. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious +3:36 6. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +5:13 7. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +5:46 8. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, +6:39 9. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +9:11 10. Brandon McNulty (Usa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +9:33
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After previously working in higher education, Tom joined Cycling Weekly in 2022 and hasn't looked back. He's been covering professional cycling ever since; reporting on the ground from some of the sport's biggest races and events, including the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix and the World Championships. His earliest memory of a bike race is watching the Tour on holiday in the early 2000's in the south of France - he even made it on to the podium in Pau afterwards. His favourite place that cycling has taken him is Montréal in Canada.
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