Previous overall winner Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) established himself as likely the main contender to topple Giro d'Italia leader Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), showing his aggression and strength on stage 19.
Carapaz attacked once on the penultimate climb, but was brought back, and then went again 2km from the top of the final Antagnod ascent, that time with only Del Toro able to follow.
Though Carapaz couldn't shake Del Toro, and the two finished together – bonus seconds actually meant the Mexican took two seconds on his rival – the EF rider did distance all his other rivals on the run-in to Champoluc.
On a day when few riders dared, or were able to, attack in the face of headwinds and UAE's stifling pace, Carapaz was relatively pleased with his day.
"I wanted to try it," he said at the finish. "Yes [I can be happy] because in the end we moved forward a bit in the GC, I finished with Del Toro, so I'm happy."
Carapaz now sits 43 seconds down on Del Toro, but is up to 1:21 ahead of Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) and 2:27 clear of Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech), with the rest of the top 10 more than three minutes down.
It's too early to call the rest of this Giro d'Italia a two-horse race between Carapaz and Del Toro, as the time gaps are still small in comparison to the duration and difficulty of the Colle delle Finestre climb that headlines stage 20, but stage 19 seemed to cement the notion that Carapaz and Del Toro are the strongest attackers in this race.
Not only did Carapaz attack on Friday, but also on stage 17, and on stage 11, which he won, and he's been steadily moving up the rankings since then, to now be in second as others have fallen away around him.
On stage 19, Yates and Gee had been strong throughout the day, matching Del Toro and Carapaz on the series of tough climbs that made up the relentless day, but – just as both had on stage 17 – they lacked the punch or explosivity to follow Carapaz and Del Toro.
Though there's only one stage left for Carapaz to try to finally distance Del Toro and potentially win this race, he was clear that he still sees the win as up for grabs, and that stage 20 will offer up something even harder and more decisive.
"I think tomorrow will be different," he said. "It will be longer, more serious, and I don't think everyone knows how hard it is, so I think a lot can still change."
Stage 20 is 205km long, with the fearsome Colle delle Finestre coming in the final 50km, offering up 18.4km of climbing at an average gradient of 9.2.%, and 7km of gravel to the top. From the top, the riders will descend and then climb for another 16.3km up to Sestrière, but on a gentler gradient of only 3.8% average.
EF's sports director, Juanma Gárate, is also expecting the weather to play a role in Saturday's stage.
"Tomorrow we expect a lot of heat, as it was today, which affected a lot of riders," he said. "The Colle delle Finestre is a climb that feels eternal, endless. Never ends. Everything can happen, it’s true that after that, you still need to get to Sestriere, and even if the wind is favourable tomorrow, it takes a lot to get there."
The team clearly see everything still to play for, and praised Carapaz's conditions, reiterating what they've said before about him being in his best form since joining EF, and now in a position to potentially win the Giro.
"He is the Richard Carapaz we all know, the one who can dispute the Grand Tours," Garate concluded. "Now he is in a good moment."
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