Del Toro wins Tour de France stage two as Pogacar closes in on Vingegaard
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BARCELONA, July 5 : Isaac del Toro overcame a mechanical issue and a long wait to change his bike before launching a late attack to win the second stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, becoming only the second Mexican to claim a stage at the race after Raul Alcala more than three decades ago.
Del Toro’s teammate and defending champion Tadej Pogacar finished second, cutting Jonas Vingegaard’s overall lead to six seconds.
“It means really everything,” said Del Toro after his second Grand Tour stage win. “As I said before, I’m very privileged. Plenty of confidence by the whole team. I cannot believe I just did it. It’s just insane. You cannot believe how it feels now for me, especially for the country.
“We made a plan for Tadej, I did it but then the gap was bigger and I just went with the flow to the finish line.”
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Slovenian Pogacar crossed the finish line with Del Toro and lifted the 22-year-old in the air as the UAE Team Emirates-XRG colleagues celebrated the victory.
With about 60km left on the hilly ride from Tarragona to Barcelona, Del Toro suffered a mechanical problem. A miscommunication with his team on the radio left him sitting by the road, waiting for a replacement bike.
But Del Toro needed little more than 10km to make up for lost time when he got going again and played a central role in his team’s strategy during the three laps up Cote de Chateau de Montjuic at the end of the stage.
POGACAR AND TEAMMATES DOMINATE THE FINISH
Brandon McNulty set the pace for Pogacar during the first climb as two-time winner Vingegaard remained behind his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Victor Campenaerts.
Pogacar and three teammates led the way during the second lap of the hill, but Vingegaard’s teammate Matteo Jorgenson made a late push to become the second rider to the top behind McNulty.
As the race entered the final 10km, Vingegaard positioned himself behind Jorgenson, with four-time champion Pogacar following the Dane closely, along with others.
When Jorgenson fell back during the final climb, Adam Yates led out Pogacar for the final attack, before Del Toro surprised his rivals with his launch for the finish line.
“It was not an easy day, I think this circuit is not my favourite terrain so I think I can be pretty happy with keeping the yellow jersey. They did a super job so they really deserved the victory today,” Vingegaard said.
Del Toro said he was happy to get the win for Mexico on the same day that the country’s soccer team play in the World Cup round of 16.
“We have these 11 guys ripping it in the football, they’re doing amazing and to be at the same level here in France at the hardest race is like a dream,” he added.
The race is set to continue on Monday with a ride from Spain’s Granollers to Les Angles in France, but a forest wildfire near its finishing point may threaten the stage.
Source: Reuters
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