Arroyo took eighth on the stage, 7 seconds back of the stage winner, as he did not contest the sprint for the stage win. His 13-minute time gap over the peloton moved him up to second in the overall standings. Arroyo was a far stronger climber than Richie Porte, the man who had taken the race leadership on this stage. In the Giro's next mountain stage, stage 14 to Asolo incorporating Monte Grappa, Arroyo finished only 12th, over two minutes behind stage winner Vincenzo Nibali, but took the pink jersey as Porte was a further two minutes back in 24th. This was the first time the team, then known as , had held the pink jersey since Miguel Induráin won the race overall in 1993. In stage 15, the Monte Zoncolan stage, Arroyo finished nearly four minutes behind stage winner Ivan Basso, but he still retained the pink jersey because of how much time he had in hand to the race's overall favorites. Arroyo was another two minutes off the winning time in the climbing time trial to Plan de Corones in the next stage, but still held more than two minutes' advantage over Basso in second place after the stage. The next two stages were flat and won by breakaways and sprinters, meaning they did not alter the overall standings. Arroyo was in the pink jersey with two minutes on Basso and three stages left to race, and was at this point entertaining the idea that he could win the Giro. In stage 19, Basso, his teammate Nibali, and Michele Scarponi easily dropped Arroyo on the climb of the Passo del Mortirolo. Basso then rode the descent very conservatively, with the other two needing to wait for him several times. Arroyo rode a very aggressive descent, and caught Carlos Sastre, John Gadret, Evans, and Vinokourov, who had been between him and the leading Italian trio. The five coalesced into a chase group on the day's final climb, to Aprica. Despite having only a few seconds' advantage at the start of a relatively easy climb, Basso's group gained time all throughout the climb and finished sufficiently ahead of Arroyo's to put the pink jersey on him. Arroyo stayed with Basso on the descent of the Passo di Gavia the next day instead of trying to regain the jersey. Though he conceded a little time in both the Passo del Tonale