Isaac Del Toro puts UAE contract extension on hold amid Paul Seixas uncertainty

Isaac Del Toro will not extend his contract with UAE Team Emirates-XRG for the time being, according to cycling journalist and transfer insider Daniel Benson, writing on his Substack. The 22-year-old Mexican, fresh from finishing third in the Tour de France, is already tied to UAE on a long-term deal. However, plans discussed in May to improve and potentially extend that agreement have temporarily been put on hold by Del Toro’s representatives.

The partnership between Del Toro and UAE Team Emirates-XRG has been both happy and highly successful. It is easy to forget that the Mexican is only in his third season with the team — and therefore his third year in the WorldTour. After winning the Tour de l’Avenir in 2023, he arrived at the big-spending Emirati squad with a reputation as one of cycling’s leading young talents. So far, he has fully lived up to that status.

In 2024, Del Toro immediately won a stage of the Tour Down Under, recorded impressive general classification results in several major week-long stage races and won the Tour of Asturias before making his Vuelta a España debut. That first Grand Tour became a disappointment after he contracted COVID-19, but Del Toro returned as an even stronger rider in 2025.

After beginning that season as a domestique for Juan Ayuso, Del Toro eventually surpassed the Spaniard by finishing second at the Giro d’Italia, where he also spent a lengthy spell in the pink jersey. He won Milano–Torino and, following a period of recovery after the Giro, embarked on an extraordinary winning run that ultimately produced 16 victories — from the Tour of Austria through to the Italian autumn classics.

Del Toro raised the bar again in 2026, turning strong general classification results into overall victories. He won the UAE Tour, Tirreno–Adriatico and the Tour Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes, despite suffering a broken leg in the Basque Country in April. He entered the Tour de France as a dangerous wildcard, and that assessment proved correct. Behind the dominant Tadej Pogačar, Del Toro finished third in Paris and won the white jersey as the race’s best young rider.

Now that Del Toro has completed all three Grand Tours, finished on the podium in two of them and already added three WorldTour stage-race victories to his palmarès, he is in a position to make demands. That is precisely why reports emerged in May suggesting that UAE Team Emirates-XRG wanted to reopen and improve the climber’s existing contract, which currently runs until 2029.

That may still happen, but according to Benson, Del Toro has put the discussions on hold for now. “At this point, there are no plans to reopen the contract and negotiate new terms. There is no urgency to extend, but one of the subjects under discussion is Paul Seixas,” the journalist reported.

The 19-year-old French prodigy is contracted to Decathlon CMA CGM until 2027, but teams from across the WorldTour are chasing his signature, including UAE. According to Benson, the rider who finished fourth at the Tour de France currently appears likely to remain with Decathlon. “They are prepared to match every offer, and they have a clear plan for him.”

Del Toro’s representatives would nevertheless prefer to see how the situation surrounding Seixas develops. Should the Frenchman move to UAE, the team would suddenly have a large number of potential leaders competing for opportunities. “Those around Del Toro are waiting to see how the Seixas situation develops before discussing a new contract. If Seixas joins, Del Toro will want guarantees about his role, which is more than understandable.”