Simon Yates did not hide his frustration at the end of the 19th stage of the Giro d'Italia in the Champoluc valley. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider lost 24 precious seconds to Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-Easypost).

The decisive move came 1.5 km from the summit of Antagnod, when Carapaz attacked followed by Del Toro. Yates, although initially able to respond to some counterattacks, then found himself in difficulty, blocked in a chasing group that was unable to close the gap.

'I felt good, but those two are just much more explosive than me . I can't follow them when they go,' admitted a disappointed Yates, who now sits 1:21 behind Mexico's Del Toro and 38 seconds behind Carapaz.

There were clear tensions over the strategy of the Visma-Lease a Bike team. When asked about the team's tactical plan, Yates responded bluntly: 'It was completely different to what we had planned, I'll have to review it with the team.' A version contradicted by sports director Marc Reef, who instead defended the tactical choices: 'Everything went exactly as agreed. We wanted to make the race tough where possible.'

Del Toro, pink jersey, commented with a hint of irony: 'They probably wanted to make me suffer. They saw that I had a moment of crisis the other day and they hoped to repeat it.'

Now all eyes are on the final mountain stage to Sestriere, with the fearsome Colle delle Finestre. Yates, who suffered here in 2018, does not hide his concerns: 'There is also the dirt section that I would prefer to avoid . We will see how the legs are. Today they were good, let's hope they are good tomorrow too so we can try something'.