Mexico’s Isaac del Toro showed the world he was ready to compete with cycling’s biggest stars after he secured another season-defining victory at the rebranded Tour-Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, where he also cemented his position as world number three.
The Tour-Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, which was known as the Critérium du Dauphiné for the last 15 years until this year, offered riders a chance to test their form weeks ahead of the long-awaited Tour de France.
Competing against the likes of veteran riders like Wout van Aert and Juan Ayuso, del Toro proved just how much of a threat he can be, not just for the upcoming Grand Tour, but also in the years to come.
New generation takes shape
The youngsters starred right from the start of the eight-day race, with Alex Baudin of EF Education – EasyPost flying to take stage one and the overall lead.
Baudin managed to hold onto the lead for five consecutive stages until Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe’s Luke Tuckwell quipped him from the lead in the race’s first mountain stage – a sign that a new generation of cyclists was now taking shape.
Tuckwell’s lead, however, came under threat when UAE Team Emirates – XRG’s del Toro and Decathlon CMA CGM Team’s Paul Seixas started making gains, attacking from behind to send a warning to everyone that they were still in the fight for the overall win.
A potential duel between Seixas and del Toro
Seixas, sometimes dubbed the next Tadej Pogačar after his dominance in his early races this season, fought head-to-head with del Toro in stage six, where they finished together in a draw.
But a crash by Seixas in stage seven marred what everyone expected to be a duel with del Toro.
Seixas launched a blistering attack to erase a four-minute deficit and finished that stage, with del Toro sharing a moment of respect to ask him about the crash afterwards.
However, it was not meant to be, after Seixas ended up abandoning the race on the very last day.
That left del Toro to fight for the win.
Buoyed by his stage win the day before and his 49-second gap with Tuckwell, del Toro got down to business in last stage eight, attacking nine kilometres from the summit of the hors-catégorie Plateau de Solaison.
No one was able to follow him until the very end.
Truckwell finished overall second while Ayuso of Lidl-Trek completed the podium.
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Del Toro prepares for first Tour de France
Not only did del Toro secure the biggest GC win in his career so far, but his performance also propelled him to third in the world rankings, after Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, the respective world number one and two.
He climbs ahead of Belgian cyclist and Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel.
“It’s super nice [to win the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes] obviously, I’m super happy,” del Toro said in a post-race interview.
“I did a recon of this climb a few months ago. It was nice to remember this recon with Tadej [Pogačar] and it’s super cool to win here with the team.”
“It’s just insane. We fought for it and it’s really nice. I can’t believe it.”
The road ahead for del Toro
Del Toro’s victory comes as he prepares for his very first Tour de France next month, where he is set to help his mentor Pogačar win a fifth title.
His form suggests his rivals will have to watch out for him as Pogačar’s “super domestique.”
Asked about his ambitions for the Tour de France, del Toro was clear in his commitment for his mentor’s goals.
“He [Pogačar] has a lot of respect by my side and I just want to be as happy as him on the bike,” del Toro was quoted as saying by Cycling News.
He added that working with Pogačar will be “full gas.”
But del Toro will also have to face a growing rivalry with Seixas, who will also make his debut this year at the Tour de France, in time to become the faces of cycling’s new generational talents.
READ MORE: Cycling news: Jonas Vingegaard writes history with Giro d’Italia victory
Tour de France to gather world’s best
As the clock ticks down to the Tour de France, riders are now making sure they will be battle-ready when the tour begins on July 4 in Barcelona, Spain.
Pogačar is currently competing in the Tour de Suisse until Sunday to fine tune his form and send a warning to all his competitors that he will be keen to defend his crown.
Meanwhile, his greatest rival Vingegaard showed he was back to his best after cruising to a dominant win at the Giro d’Italia last month.
All eyes will be on their yearly waltz atop the French mountains, but other teams will be gunning to register a win and disrupt the rankings, such as Evenepoel, who will be sharing co-leadership duties with Florian Lipowitz for Red Bull, and Mathieu van der Poel for Alpecin – Premier Tech.
And perhaps, with the debut of some of the most promising riders to date this year, the youngsters can have a say on how the race will take shape.
One thing is for sure, however: Cycling’s best of the best will collide in a few weeks time at the biggest Grand Tour in the world.
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