After he claimed the Giro d’Italia race lead on the gravel roads of Tuscany on Sunday, Isaac del Toro revealed that none other than UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Tadej Pogačar advised him to attack and go for the win.
The 21-year-old could not take the victory in the Giro’s emblematic finish in Siena, as he was outsprinted by Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike). But Del Toro received a massive consolation prize, as he became the first-ever Mexican to hold the lead in the Giro d’Italia.
Speaking on his rest day press conference, Del Toro skirted round the question of whether his hefty GC lead of 1:13 over teammate Juan Ayuso meant that he was now the main GC contender for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, saying simply that ‘the objective is to win the Giro with the team’.
But Del Toro did explain that triple Strade Bianche winner Pogačar had told him to go for the attack on the roads of Tuscany – which Del Toro duly did, at 50 kilometres from the line.
“He [Pogačar] just sent a message to say if I was in a position to try, to try to win the stage,” Del Toro told reporters. “I think he believes in me.”
The second-year pro denied that he felt like he was under pressure given the degree of expectations now surrounding him, even if he admitted to sometimes feeling quite nervous. “I’m just 21, but it’s OK,” he said.
“It’s my first Giro, I’m excited to be here with such a strong team and I’m so proud, it’s like a dream,” he said. “I couldnt’ be happier.”
Although he is the first Mexican to lead the Giro, Del Toro said it was not a particular objective to make cycling history as he had done.
“I’m just glad that working so hard has had this result, but I never wanted to be the first. I’m just glad it worked out that way.”
Regarding the thorny question of who was leading the team into the second week, Del Toro was adamant that his Giro lead did not change anything and that the squad’s overriding goal remained the same.
“My strategy from now on is to maintain pink jersey in the team and try to take the overall, and for sure to maintain the lead inside the team.”
The 28-kilometre time trial on Tuesday may well change the team dynamics and hierarchy again, for now it has to be said that the squad is in a stunning position on the GC. Apart from the top two positions, riders of the calibre of Brandon McNulty and Adam Yates, who also continuing to be named by the UAE as a leader, are also in the top 10, at 1:59 and 2:01, respectively. All of them are ahead of arch-rival Primoz Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), potentially giving UAE multiple cards to play.
But for all UAE point to Ayuso and Yates remaining as GC leaders, for now it’s Del Toro who is the man of the moment and who will roll down the Lucca starting ramp on Tuesday afternoon clad in pink.
“Yesterday [Sunday] I couldn’t believe it,” Del Toro said. “It was easy to wake up this morning [in the Giro lead], the hard part was to get to sleep last night. The feeling is just incredible.”
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