Isaac del Toro's remarkable rise and journey to Italy's glory
At the beginning of this Italian Giro d'Italia, the name Isaac del Toro is little known. Fast forward to the end of the business of the critical final week, while Del Toro is a game-winning favorite, wearing the lead-in pink jersey for eight days and winning his first big tour title in Phase 17.
After a win-win giro, the pre-match favorite Primoz Roglic struggled and eventually collapsed, with his junior year only 14 years of rider (all far from the heart of Nordic sports in his second year as a profession, he assumed it was one of the three biggest three games in the sport.
The talented 21-year-old grew up in Ensenada, a small town, a two-hour drive from San Diego, Baja, Mexico. He told sprint“My father was a cyclist and my mom wanted my brother and I to be athletes,” for which the young Del Toro was obsessed with cycling.
His abilities as a climber have been highly honed on some of Mexico's toughest climbs, including Nevado de Toluca 4.631 billion. Like many riders, he drilled relentlessly to turn his weaknesses into strengths, with the focus on sprint training to make up for his lack of natural fists.
Hours of mountain biking and teenage bike riding can also perfect his bike handling skills and positioning, in his favor during this time Giro as he avoided crashes that caused some competitors.
He joined the Mexico AR Monex team as a teenager and intended to spend the 2020 race in Europe, but the Covid-19 pandemic paid. But he worked hard in the low-level race and then announced that he won the Tour de France in 2023.
A stage race has long been seen as an early indicator of the success of the Grand Tour, with the “Future Journey” often held in the Tour de France, with previous champions including Greg Lemond, Nairo Quintana, Egan Bernal, Egan Bernal and others – who else – tadej pogacar.
Del Toro won the stage on one of France's most notorious and toughest climbs, Col de la loze, a scene where Pogacar went bankrupt on the 2023 Tour, and his infamous broadcast message “I'm gone, I'm dead, all dead to his team”.
The Mexicans did not have the same misfortune, leaving the race leader Matthew Riccitello on the hillside, and then snatched the overall victory in the final stage.
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His outstanding performance brought him attention to the UAE team Amirates-XRG and was awarded the end-of-world contract at the age of 20. His first year as a new pro started with a classic podium at Down Down before winning the stage off the Tour – his debut as a pro – and a three-day lead. He ranked fourth in Tirreno-Adriatico in 2024, and in March he won Milano-Torino, the oldest classic in the calendar, defeating Ben Tulett and Tobias Halland Johannessen, another former Tour de France champion – two-thirds.
His UAE contract now lasts until 2029. The team knew they had a gem on their hands. Del Toro said at the time: “I still have a lot to learn despite the victory. I decided to join the emirates of the UAE because they saw things because they gave me the focus I needed because they wanted to give me everything they wanted.”
In addition to the general classification on the Tour de France, he ranks first in the Mountains, Points and Best Young Riders category. The Mexican rider has never won a race before. But Del Toro is part of the rich tradition of Latin and South American climbers, most successful in the Colombian pair of Quintana and Bernal, and Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz.
All three won grand tours and opened a trail in the sport. One of Del Toro's biggest rivals to win the championship in Rome, Carapaz was the first Ecuadorian to win Giro in 2019 and the first cyclist in the country to win gold at the Olympics in 2021 with the glory of road races. Bernal was the winner of the 2019 Tour de France, the first victory of 2019, the first car, the first victory.
2014 Giro Winner Quintana, now a 35-year-old veteran, is the driver who watched with Del Toro along with Chris Froome. Bernal is another inspiration for young people to build their own cycling career. The Mexican is recovering from a femoral fracture, while Bernal recovered from a life-threatening crash in 2022, and there is no secret to admire his admiration for him. Del Toro returns with injury and enjoys the breakout season of 2023. Bernal is now about to return to a long road.
The Colombia National Champion said earlier in the game that Del Toro could win the game on the first day of the pink. “I really like him as a rider, he's very smart, he's very good at moving, he's always ahead,” the two-time Grand Tour champion said. “He's one of the best riders for me. Obviously, he can win the race, yes.”
When told about this Del Toro, still taking Maglia Rosa in awe, it was obvious that, “Dream is free…I can't believe Bernal said this.”
But even if Del Toro doesn't stick to his lead, the Colombian is right. He is now one of the youngest Giro stage champions of the century and the youngest rider. He was just the third Mexican to win the big tour. If he sticks to Rome, he will be the first to win the Grand Tour.
An inevitable comparison with his team leader and Pogacar, the best talent in modern bikes. Both riders won the Tour de France before making their debut as a professional on the tour when they were 20.
The 21-year-old looked shy when speaking softly during interviews and press conferences. But on the bike, he has some of the bravery and total confidence of Pogaca, the same offensive ability and aggressive racing style. He celebrated his victory in Milano-Torino and celebrated the 17th stage with dramatic bows and arrows – a celebration that competed with the Slovenian rampage, winning the Tour de France last year.
Until this month, Del Toro was unproven on the Grand Tour. He ranked 36th in his debut Grand Tour debut in vuelta a espana last year, but wasn't targeting that Jersey.
Whether he won the race or not, he labeled himself as the one who observes the future: a natural racer, a great mountaineer, and the heir to the traditional traditions of Latin and South American bicycles.
Forbes reports that before his star turned to Italy, he said: “I like (Jonas) Viggard. I like the aggressiveness of Pogaca. I like (Mathieu) van der poel (ability) at the extreme speed and the dominance and dominance of Mads Pederson. But Isaac del Toro is still his own man.