Isaac Del Toro charges to UAE Tour victory

Isaac Del Toro blew the GC rankings wide and charged towards overall victory in the UAE Tour on Sunday.  

The win had been up for grabs since the start of the race on February 16, with many big-name riders looking to build momentum as the season gets underway. 

The red jersey was passed from one rider to another, until Del Toro snatched it back on the queen stage and never gave anyone else a chance to steal it back.

Del Toro and his impressive comeback 

Del Toro’s win was praised as a landmark achievement and a massive home success for the UAE Team Emirates-XRG, but the road to victory wasn’t easy.  

While the Mexican rider outperformed the sprinters to take stage one, Remco Evenepoel from Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe staged the fastest individual time trial in the race – his personal best – in stage two, rocketing him to the GC lead.  

But the Belgian, touted as one of the favourites, cracked on the way up Jebel Mobrah in stage three, which gave Antonio Tiberi from Bahrain – Victorious the chance to steal the red jersey.  

Tiberi had the lead in the next two stages, before Del Toro snatched it back on Saturday with an impressive decisive attack three kilometres of the climb to win stage six. 

From there, the Mexican rider had no problem holding onto the lead.  

Coming in second was Tiberi with a 20-second gap, while Team Jayco AlUla’s Luke Plapp completed the podium in third. 

UAE’s blooming talent  

Del Toro’s victory is considered the biggest GC performance in his career so far as he follows in the footsteps of his mentor, Tadej Pogačar.  

He also became one of the youngest winners of the UAE Tour.  

“It’s really special. Thanks to my amazing team, this dream was made possible and I couldn’t be [prouder],” he said after the race. 

“I learned a lot during this race and I was very happy to see the work pay off. 

“It was a great feeling to come into the streets of Abu Dhabi with the leader’s jersey on my shoulders.” 

Del Toro will now turn his focus to his other goals this year, the closest of which will be at the Strade Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico next month.  

Strade Bianche, in particular, will be a showstopper with the presence of some of the biggest riders in the sport, including teammate Pogačar, Team Visma – Lease a Bike’s Wout van Aert and rising Decathlon CMA CGM Team superstar Paul Seixas.  

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Jonathan Milan on a roll  

Del Toro wasn’t the only one who went home with massive successes from the UAE Tour, as Jonathan Milan also won three of the seven stages, including the last one.  

His explosive winning attacks have underscored him as one of the most dominant sprinters this season. 

The last stage saw a gap between the peloton and the breakaway rise throughout the race, with the breakaway only being caught inside the final two kilometres.  

Various teams tried to fight for the best position until Milan staged his attack about 300 metres from the finish line. 

“Today was a super-fast stage and also hard with the wind and the super strong break. We had to control it, and we did really well,” he said in an interview with Cycling Up To Date.  

He credited his teammates for the job well done, proudly stating that Lidl-Trek showed they were “one of the best trains”. 

Evenepoel falls flat  

Meanwhile, it was a race to forget for Evenepoel following his stellar start in the season.  

He recently sealed his new team’s first winning jersey at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana stage race.  

However, Evenepoel did not back down without a fight, launching an attack right from the start of the final stage, with two riders managing to follow him.  

It created a brief tension in the bunch, but the UAE team helped reel them in.  

Nevertheless, the pace and speed had been set fast, and Evenepoel finished 10th in the GC rankings.  

In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws cited by Cycling News, Evenepoel admitted it wasn’t his best week. 

He was notably dropped during the final climbing day up Jebel Hafeet on Saturday.  

“I didn’t reach the level I needed to compete for victories in both mountain stages. It turns out I didn’t fully digest those first races [in Mallorca and Valencia]. 

“I was also a bit sick afterwards – a runny nose. Although that’s no excuse. I did ride a good time trial here on Tuesday, but I didn’t recover well from that,” he added. 

But Evenepoel appeared determined to be better, saying he’ll be at a “different level” when he comes for payback at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya starting March 23.

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