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 Banesto, had held the pink jersey since Miguel Indurain 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.