Isaac del Toro relishes head-to-head duel with Mathieu van der Poel

Del Toro reacted sharply when eventual stage winner Mathieu van der Poel attacked together with Matteo Jorgenson. When the Visma | Lease a Bike rider crashed, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader had to dig deep to get back across to Van der Poel.

“When Matteo crashed, I thought it was going to be difficult to bring Mathieu back,” Del Toro said afterwards. “So I decided to ride as hard as I could myself and get as far as possible. In the end, I’m really happy with how it all played out.”

The climber hit the final kilometre at speed, where his friend Giulio Pellizzari and Van der Poel almost had to give way. “The main thing was not to crash in those final corners and in the end it turned into a long sprint, but above all I’m happy to be in the jersey now. It feels good to be in this position.”

Del Toro, who has a background in cyclo-cross, clearly enjoyed his duel with Van der Poel. “It was incredibly nice to go head-to-head with Mathieu,” he said. “I really enjoyed it. The first time I rode the gravel roads in Tuscany, I already felt comfortable. And that has only improved.”

He now hopes to keep the blue jersey all the way to San Benedetto del Tronto. “But the general classification is definitely not decided yet. Pellizzari is still close and I know how strong he is, so I expected that already. But I also expect other guys to get involved in the fight.”