Del Toro's pure explosion of power too much for Magnier in Deutschland Tour opening prologue

Isaac Del Toro won the prologue of the Deutschland Tour. The Mexican rider from UAE Team Emirates-XRG was just a step ahead of the Soudal Quick-Step duo of Paul Magnier and Laurenz Rex on the extremely short, hilly course. The young climber thus immediately became the first leader in the general classification and took an early lead toward the overall victory.

After a ten-year hiatus, the Deutschland Tour was revived in 2018. Since then, the race has steadily regained its prestige. As in recent years, the organizers once again decided to start with a prologue: a course of just 2.6 kilometers was laid out in Bad Orb, and it wasn’t entirely flat.

A tricky little climb in the middle made the short effort even harder. That didn’t mean the gaps would be any bigger: Henri Uhlig had set the first target time, and no fewer than eight riders had finished within five seconds of the German from Alpecin-Premier Tech. That is, until Paul Magnier went all out: the Frenchman from Soudal Quick-Step was a full eleven seconds faster!

It turned out to be an absolutely outstanding time, as other time trial and/or prologue specialists struggled to beat Magnier’s time. Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) was seven seconds behind, as was Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek). Dutch riders Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin - Premier Tech) and Joren Bloem (Unibet Rose Rockets) came even closer, but the Frenchman’s time proved to be truly outstanding.

Could anyone else still catch up? Giulio Ciccone also came close, but the Italian rider from Lidl-Trek finished five seconds behind. He did, however, gain time on Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), one of the top contenders for the overall victory. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), the top favorite, was set to start second to last.

Marco Haller (Tudor) came closest of anyone so far, finishing just over three seconds behind Magnier, and Laurenz Rex—the Frenchman’s teammate—was even slightly faster. All eyes were on Del Toro. The Mexican time trial champion flew up the climb and then charged down the descent, finishing just ahead of Magnier.

1. Isaac del Toro

2. Paul Magnier

3. Laurenz Rex