Disbelief, joy, and every other emotion: Isaac Del Toro on cloud 9 after first Tour de France stage win

A Tour debut, and seizing your chance right away in the very first stage: go ahead, name someone who’s done that before? In any case, Isaac Del Toro has achieved something truly extraordinary. The stage win in Barcelona was great, but the way it happened was even better, with Tadej Pogacar letting him take the victory after his majestic lead-out. It meant everything to the Mexican champion.

Del Toro sat in front of the microphone for the flash interview, beaming like a child. “I’m a very fortunate man; you wouldn’t believe how hard we’ve worked to be here. The whole team had faith—this is everyone’s achievement, including my family and friends. I can’t believe it—it’s insane. I also really appreciate Tadej for letting me ride on his team. My emotions are running so high right now. Especially for my country, with everything that’s going on. It’s truly unbelievable.”

It remained surprisingly quiet on Montjuïc, after which Mattias Skjelmose accelerated on the descent. Del Toro closed the gap while working for Pogacar, but was riding so hard that he left the rest of the pack behind. “We were going really fast; we knew an attack might come. I tried to catch up to Skjelmose. We made a plan with Tadej, and I carried it out. But in the end, the gap was even bigger, so I was just able to win.”

Pogacar was the only one who could keep up with his teammate’s surge, but the mountain jersey wearer didn’t want to launch his own killer sprint. It was a bit risky, but it paid off with a memorable victory, in which the Slovenian himself finished second. “An opportunity like that really never comes along. I’m very proud that I’m at a level where I can pull something like that off.”

Mexico will be in an uproar, but of course it already is with the World Cup being held on its home turf. In that tournament, the country faces England tonight in the round of 16. “Of course, we have eleven guys who are doing a fantastic job on the soccer field. It’s crazy. To be playing here in France in the toughest match is truly a dream.”

Adam Yates also played a crucial role in the victory for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. After Visma | Lease a Bike won the team time trial, the UAE team struck back hard. “What a way to start the race,” the Brit exclaimed. “Yesterday was okay, but we’re not specialists in the team time trial. Morale was high, and we showed that today.”

Del Toro’s victory doesn’t come as a complete surprise. “We knew we had two cards to play. We tried to make the most of our numbers. Isaac was amazing, and Tadej is, of course, the best in the world. It’s going to be three long weeks, but hopefully three fun weeks.” Pogacar then pats his domestique on the shoulder and exclaims with a laugh, “This guy is a machine!”