Richard Kalapas doesn't have much to say at the Giro d'Italia press conference. Whenever Maria Rosa is asked a question, he smiles a little bitterly, then passes it off coolly with a half-smile. She is always polite and rarely outspoken.

On Friday in Santuario di Castelmonte, Carapaz was asked if he was satisfied with his current slight advantage over Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) as the race enters its final weekend. His answer said nothing and said it all at the same time. "I have a three-second lead." Better to have it than not."

Kalapas had to make a side trip to Slovenia on stage 19 to cross the demanding climb of Kolovrat before the testing final climb to Santuario di Castelmonte above Cividale del Friuli.

The Ecuadorian rider accelerated with 2 km to go, but was soon caught up by Hindley. The deadlock lasted until the summit, where Carapaz won the sprint battle and finished in eighth place, 3:56 behind stage winner Cane Bouwman (Jumbo Visma).

Like Bobby Charlton and Franz Beckenbauer in the 1966 World Cup final, Hindley and Karapas virtually cancelled each other out in the mountains of week 3 of the Giro. They hardly seemed to notice when third-place finisher Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) passed them with purpose with about a kilometer to go. Carapas, however, closed the gap shortly thereafter.

"In the end, we found ourselves on the same level, but I enjoy the competition," said Kalapas, who was told that while this deadlock race was suspenseful, it lacked the emotion of a 2019 Giro win. 'We have a strong team, but so do Hindley in Bora and Randa in Bahrain. It's hard to make a difference on individual stages, but I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking about winning the Giro."

Although the standings were unchanged at the finish, with Landa in third place, 1:05 back, stage 19 left a big mark on the Giro. Calapaz's strongest climber, Richie Porte, was forced to retire due to illness, and Beulah Hansgrohe forced the pace early in the stage in an attempt to create an opening for Hindley.

Bora put pressure on the final climb of the Kolovrat, and Carapaz threatened to be unprotected in the finale, but they relented on the approach to the Cividale del Friuli, and Maria Rosa then teammates Ben Tullett and Jonathan Castroviejo, Pavel Sivakov for most of the way to the finish.

"I think Bora forced it, partly because of the technical descent after the climb. But it's good to know that Ineos is not the only one making the race," said Karapas, who admitted that Porte will be absent from Saturday's races in San Pellegrino, Pordoi, and Tapone in Fedaia.

"He is a very important loss. We will be one man short in the mountains and he did a great job here in the Giro, especially the day before yesterday. He got sick at the start of the stage but he did everything he could to stay in the stage. But the pace was so hard that he could not go on. We lost quite a few riders, but the team is still strong and motivated."

Throughout the final week of the Giro, Kalapas has been warming up before the podium ceremony on a time trial bike. Kalapas is favored to win the Giro if he starts this stage with the slight buffer he currently has, but Saturday's Dolomites stage will be his last chance to pull away from the top two riders.

The 168-km stage from Passo di Fedaia to Marmolada marks the first time the Giro will cross 2,000 meters in elevation. The finale is like being at home," joked Carapaz, who was born in El Carmelo at nearly 3,000 meters above sea level. Behind that smile, however, hides a serious message.

Though Hindley did very well in the Stelvio two years ago, the rarefied air of the Pordoi summit and Fedaia may be a small detail that tilts the balance of this most even Giro in favor of Carapas.

"I think tomorrow will be a different scenario than today. There's an altitude finish and a tough final climb, so the last 5km will be decisive," said Kalapas, but even he was not entirely sure. 'So far we've been on the same level.'