The new Del Toro is already on his way, but not at UAE: Said Cisneros (18) hopes to flourish at Soudal Quick-Step

At just 22 years of age, Isaac Del Toro has only just appeared on the world stage, but his rise has already caused quite a stir in Mexico. Slowly but surely, interest in cycling is growing in the country, and more young talents are beginning to emerge. One of them is Said Cisneros, who will make his debut with a European team this year.

Cisneros is extremely young: he is only 18 and will turn 19 in April. Still, Soudal Quick-Step has already taken him into its development pathway. It is an important step for the young climber from Aguascalientes, who is regarded as Mexico’s biggest talent. He has big shoes to fill, but his results so far have certainly been promising.

In 2024, Cisneros rode his first kilometres for A.R. Monex, a Mexican team racing under the flag of San Marino. As a result, he was able to compete in a large number of races in Italy, and most of his programme in 2025 has also taken place there. In the junior categories, he made a strong impression, which ultimately earned him his move to the Belgian setup.

But Cisneros hasn't been cycling for long. “I started cycling in 2020, at the age of 13," he said on the team's website. "But the first time I actually got on my bike was before that, when my father taught me how to ride a bike. I remember that my first ever race was a mountain bike one, but slowly, I became interested in road cycling." And the rest, as they say, is history.

At the World Junior Championships in Rwanda, he stood out significantly. "I finished as the best-placed Latin American rider," recalls Cisneros, who finished 17th - in the same group as Karl Herzog, the young German who not much later became European champion. "But the cherry on the cake was winning the road race title at the National Championships, in what was my last race of the year.”

The young Mexican is a climber who also enjoys punchy finishes, making comparisons with Del Toro easy to draw. For now, however, Cisneros has different priorities. "My main goals for the first season with the Devo Team are to learn, to give my best, to enjoy every single moment, and to fight for good results whenever possible. I would like to improve in all aspects and I feel that Soudal Quick-Step Devo is the right place for me to do that."

This year, he will compete in the under-23 category for the first time. Even though he is only just getting a taste of that level, he hopes to achieve some strong results along the way. "In terms of personal results, I would be satisfied with more than a victory and a GC top ten in Giro della Valle d’Aosta or the Tour de l’Avenir, but there’s no rush or pressure; we’ll just take it one race at a time and see how it goes.”