Carlos Verona claimed his first Grand Tour stage win when the Lidl-Trek rider rode solo to victory on Sunday’s mountainous stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia while Isaac Del Toro retained his overall lead heading into the final week.
Stage 15 was a 219km ride from Fiume Veneto to Asiago and although his team mate Giulio Ciccone was a pre-stage favourite before being forced to abandon overnight after a nasty fall on Saturday, it was Verona who came through for Lidl-Trek.
The 32-year-old Spaniard has been cycling on the World Tour for 13 years, and it was just his second professional victory after winning a stage on the Criterium du Dauphine in 2022.
“I certainly didn’t come to the Giro thinking that I could win a stage and I was happy with that. I was here in full support for Mads Pedersen and Giulio Ciccone,” Verona said.
“Everything changed yesterday when we lost Cicco. Today is my day. I didn’t want to do it for me but I wanted to do it for the team, knowing how much Giulio had worked for this race.”
Verona attacked at the foot of the final climb with 44km to go and although several riders tried to give chase, he finished 22 seconds ahead of Florian Stork with Christian Scaroni third.
Mexican Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates retained his pink jersey and will take a lead of one minute and 20 seconds into the final week.
Simon Yates of Visma-Lease a Bike is second while Del Toro’s team mate Juan Ayuso is a further six seconds behind.
Pre-race favourite Primoz Roglic finished more than a minute behind the pink jersey group after he lost ground on the final climb. The Slovenian is now 10th, nearly four minutes behind Del Toro.
