Battles and attacks, breakaways and plenty of surprises. The 219 km Fiume Veneto-Asiago, stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia, was a showcase for cycling. In the end, the sixth triumph for Lidl Trek came from Carlos Verona: the Spaniard attacked at the right moment on the climb leading to the Asiago plateau, and at the finish line dedicated his win to Giulio Ciccone, his teammate forced to withdraw due to yesterday's crash. Florian Stork took second place, with Cristian Scaroni in third. Isaac Del Toro was perfect again today, as were the other general classification riders, with the exception of Primož Roglič who struggled on the final climb and lost 1'30": a knockout blow that risks staying in his head and legs.

THE RACE. Practically everything happened, with the peloton setting an extremely high pace from the first kilometers. An initial breakaway of about 34 riders gained a good margin before Monte Grappa, but the long 24-kilometer climb allowed the general classification riders to attempt their first attacks of the day: Bernal was the first to go, followed closely by Carapaz and Del Toro, the three tried to drop Simon Yates, but the long descent reshuffled the cards. When the group returned to the flat, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Marco Frigo (Israel-PremierTech), Carlos Verona (Lidl Trek), Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal-QuickStep), Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla), Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL), Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike), Florian Stork (Tudor), Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) and Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) found the right collaboration to fight for the stage victory, with the eleven riders at the front managing to gain almost 4 minutes on the big names.

At the start of the Dori climb, Carlos Verona went solo, the Lidl-Trek rider making the difference by anticipating his breakaway companions and bringing home his second professional victory. In the back, the general classification riders tested their legs, recovering significant ground on the escapees in the finale and arriving just 29" behind.

FEELINGS. A satisfied Carlos Verona, welcomed at the finish line by his entire family: "It was an incredible day, we were sad about Ciccone's withdrawal, but we found the strength, Lidl Trek is impressive, what we're experiencing here is not normal. Pedersen pushes you to give 110%, Cicco always has so much grit, we were sad about what happened to him. I was here for him, and as the kilometers passed, I found my best legs. I was feeling good and said goodbye, I'm going for Cicco". Roglič, on the other hand, is bitter and takes an incredible blow. And the response given by the road is quite obvious: Isaac Del Toro is the number one favorite for the final victory.

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STAGE RESULTS

1. Carlos Verona (Lidl Trek) in 5h15'41"

2. Florian Stork (Tudor) +22"

3. Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) +23"

4. Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL) s.t.

5. Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) s.t.

6. Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla) s.t.

7. Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal-QuickStep) +26"

8. Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) +29"

9. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) s.t.

10. Max Poole (Picnic PostNL) s.t.

UPDATED STANDINGS

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in 55h54'05"

2. Simon Yates (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +1'20"

3. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) +1'26"

4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) +2'07"

5. Derek Gee (Israel - Premier Tech) +2'54"

6. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain - Victorious) +2'55"

7. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain - Victorious) +3'02"

8. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +3'38"

9. Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) +3'45"

10. Primož Roglič (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) +3'53"