While all those around him were crashing, losing time and in pain, Isaac del Toro kept his head, was again brave, strong and fortunate on stage 14 at the Giro d’Italia.
He somehow avoided injury in the crash on the slippery streets of Gorizia, avoided losing time, and so extended his overall lead and kept the maglia rosa for another day.
The 21-year-old Mexican has always insisted that he is not the UAE Team Emirates-XRG team leader, but now the general classification suggests otherwise. Suddenly, the responsibility on Del Toro’s young shoulders has multiplied.
He leads Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) by 1:20, with teammate Juan Ayuso slipping back to 1:26. Other GC contenders, including Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgerohe) are still less than three minutes behind but don’t seem to have Del Toro’s fortune and consistency.
UAE were quick to say Ayuso “stayed upright through the chaos, remained safe and sits third overall.” But the Spaniard will surely be asking himself a multitude of questions, and if he is really is destined to have a shot at overall victory in this year’s Giro.
How did Del Toro manage to avoid losing time after the crash, and yet Ayuso shipped 48 precious seconds? Where were their UAE teammates? Why were they scattered to the wind and not with Del Toro and especially Ayuso, who was alone in the second group and without anyone to help him chase down Simon Yates and Del Toro?
Del Toro was also asking questions. Was he just lucky, strong or destined for greatness in this Giro d’Italia?
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“To be honest, I don’t have the best luck, but I didn’t have the worst bad luck,” Del Toro explained post-stage as he tried to understand the consequences of a chaotic day in the Corsa Rosa.
“I didn’t crash, but then someone hit me in the back, and so then I crashed. You cannot control these things; they just happen. Sometimes they’re not even in your hands. That’s it, it’s just luck.”
Del Toro made his own luck by quickly getting going after the crash.
“The guys in the front crashed, and then I crashed, too, someone hit me from behind. I just managed to stand up and go quickly to the front,” he explained, trying to explain why he raced on.
“I don’t know what happened in the back. I saw other GC riders up there like Pidcock and Carapaz, I didn’t even know which group I was in. I heard the team telling my teammates I was up front, but then the team told me to ‘chill, don’t crash and just arrive to the finish line.’ That’s what I did.”
Some Mexican cycling fans gather near the podium in Gorizia, chanting ‘Se puede, se puede’ – ‘Yes you can, yes you can’ to Del Toro.
Yet he shrugged off suggestions that he is now the UAE team leader and can win the Giro. “I don’t think so. In my mind, or my body, things are the same. I just want to be up there,” he said.
“I’m good, in shape, and the people around me are trying to give me confidence. That’s why I’m trying to race this way.
“Of course, I want to lead the race and do it. Now it’s more possible with the advantage, but in my mind, things are still the same.
“I think I’m a good bike rider. I believe that I can do it, just as I did today, yesterday, one week ago, or one month ago. What happened today doesn’t change anything.”
In truth, the crashes, the time gaps, and Del Toro’s continued fortune changes everything.
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