Despite difficult conditions, Isaac del Toro defended the overall lead on Tuesday.
Foto: imago/Zac Williams
Cycling always leads to something new. The first Mexican in the pink jersey is currently decorating the Giro d’Italia. Isaac del Toro took the lead with a famous ride over the Tuscany gravel roads on Sunday. He defended her confidently on Tuesday in the rain of Pisa. “The streets were wet, I didn’t want to take any risk, but still be quick,” said the 21-year-old at the finish of the 28.6 kilometer timing. Well, he held the gap to his most important competitors under one minute, with the exception of the Primož Roglič, which was still started in the drier.
Juan Ayuso, in addition to Roglič the top favorite of this Giro, could not significantly reduce the distance to del Toro. The young Mexican thus messes up the chopping order of his team UAE. Ayuso should actually be the captain there, with a co-captain role for Veteran Adam Yates. “We don’t expect that much from del Toro. He should continue to get used to a Grand tour, be as long as possible with Ayuso and Yates and of course help them. But we don’t have any pressure to result, «said sporting director Matxin Fernández to» ND «.
Total tour instead of helper role
So far, del Toro has been using this freedom, with a little less attention for the secondary helper role. On the gravel stage to Siena, he put a lot of speed in the leadership group, although there was Ayuso further back. In the two -sprint, he had to let the Belgian Wout van Aert advance. It is a classic specialist, but is currently not in a top form. Del Toro did not want to be annoyed about the award chance. “Van Aert was just stronger,” said the Mexican appreciatively.
Ayuso later had something to nibble on his younger passenger’s top performance. “We are friends,” he assured the journalist. But most of the questions on the day of rest did not go to him, the nominal boss, but to del Toro. Empty -minded, Ayuso also played on his mobile phone. He had an eye on his teammate in terms of time trial, quickly ran out of a bigger lead. Del Toro held against it, the race divided well and was able to enjoy Rosa on another day.
Training on Mexico’s summit
It comes from Mexico’s west coast, about 100 kilometers south of the US metropolis of San Diego. He discovered his love for the bike at the age of seven. His father Jo was a cyclist, the older brother Angel is too. As a teenager, he completed trips at a height of over 4600 meters, for example to the Nevado de Toluca, the fourth highest summit of Mexico. “I like strain on the height. I know how my body reacts. That allows me to fully exploit my heart and lungs, ”he said to the“ Gazzetta dello Sport ”.
At the age of 15 he came to Europe, in the small state of San Marino, which is almost 800 meters above sea level. There he was initially surprised by the high level of the peers, but it quickly adapted. He won’t have seen much of Europe beyond the races. “We were like a submarine force,” he said of his team at the time, so a lot together, but isolated and, above all, connected to the outside world by the very ear bike race.
Who is the Pogačar succession?
From his talent, del Toro was supposed to bloom three years ago at the Tour de L’Avenir. However, he missed the young tour of de France 2022 because of a fall injury. The following year, after an impressive victory, he cleared the overall success on the royal stage. Because he did all of this to a certain extent – his Mexican team was quite weak compared to Italy or Belgium – he was quickly considered the new Pogačar. At Team UAE, you play down such comparisons. “Tadej is unique. It is also super light with him to win, «said team -mate Rafal Majka to» Nd «.
But Del Toro could also go very quickly in the future. In any case, Juan Ayuso, Spain’s one-year-old top talent, has to stretch at this Giro in order not to have to pass on the desired Pogačar succession directly to his teammates.