“Defending a lead is never easy, but 52 seconds is a lot” – UAE back Isaac del Toro to seal Deutschland Tour after decisive attack topples Visma advantage
Cycling
Isaac del Toro will start the final stage of the Deutschland Tour with a 52-second overall lead after UAE Team Emirates – XRG dismantled Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s defence on the road to Bad Durkheim. The Mexican overturned a six-second deficit to Louis Barre, leaving his team confident of completing the job around Heilbronn.
Nils Politt, who won the Deutschland Tour himself in 2021, helped set up the move that put Del Toro back into the leader’s jersey. Afterwards, the German made clear UAE recognise the work still required but believe their advantage should prove decisive. “Defending a lead is never easy, but 52 seconds is a lot. We’ll see how we can get it done and win the Deutschland Tour,” Politt told ARD.
Politt and Morgado set up decisive attack
Politt drove the pace on the Rotsteig before Antonio Morgado accelerated with Del Toro on his wheel. Barre initially tried to follow when the Mexican attacked but could not close the gap, leaving Visma chasing the race they had previously controlled.
Giulio Pellizzari joined Del Toro at the front, and the pair stayed clear all the way to Bad Durkheim. Pellizzari took the stage victory unchallenged, while Del Toro strengthened his overall advantage with three bonus seconds at the final intermediate sprint and another six for second place.
Barre finished 49 seconds behind the leading pair, turning his narrow overnight advantage into a substantial deficit ahead of the final day.
UAE must now defend Del Toro’s lead over a 156.5km stage starting and finishing in Heilbronn. The route features three ascents of the Jagerhaus, each measuring 2.3km at 5.2%, with the final summit approximately 12km from the finish.
Barre remains second overall, 52 seconds behind Del Toro, with Marc Hirschi third. All to play for on Sunday.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- It doesnt take a genius to understand that Pogi is 1 level above and Pogi is younger that Jonas, so Jonas will not win under ordinary circumstances. Pogi has to crack hard for Jonas to win. It doesn't matter whether you defend Jonas or not , facts remain facts. Jonas himself says his numbers are better than 2022/2023, so Jonas is more or less optimized and we are just see the stochastic variation due to other factors. I think he will retire along with Pedersen in WC denmarkabstractengineer13-11-2026
- They only raced each other during the 2026 Tour, but here's a few metrics to look at. Stage 3 (Granollers to Les Angles): Pogačar won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (2nd). Del Toro finished 24 seconds behind Stage 6 (Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre / Col du Tourmalet): Pogačar won solo, Vingegaard finished 2nd (losing 2:38), and Del Toro finished 3rd (at +2:57, finishing 19 seconds behind Vingegaard). Here, Jonas Vingegaard outclimbed Isaac del Toro by 19 seconds on the mountain stageawp13-11-2026
- your clinging to the past. Jonas was dropped by del toro many times last year and jonas never managed a climbing numers del toro did in dauphine last year -entire year. Trend is also evident theres no discussion your living in the past, its beent he same with jonas for many years now and only developing, meanwhile del toro is rising and developing greatly. This is all obvious stuff and im not even a del toro fan. No point discussing numbers or this i suspect you dont watch much now but rather think its 2022 still cause this aint hard.miguel13-11-2026
- We can go through metrics if you like, Del Toro, who I do admire and support, is not on the same level as Jonas just yet. You will see that in early 2027 if they have any crossover races. I do hope they both race the Giro. You are correct though, Jonas is getting older and will not be able to hand on much longer. I see 2027 as a good year for him. Obviously behind Tadej though.awp13-11-2026
- What wins? Are you LA operating under a pseudonym?mij13-11-2026
- My point is this - Tadej, Remco, Seixas are all the outliers. Many riders don’t hit their peak until 28. It’s way too early to write him off. And the pogi slo guy that hates him - he’s also immature. Ayuso needs time.mij13-11-2026
- Then you need to use ur eyes or head if you have cause del toro already dropped jonas two times and beat him in tdf stages already this year.. Del toro climbed(dauphine) better numbers than jonas did all year too. So ur feelings and wishful thinking doesnt amtter del toro himself has already surpassed jonas infact just facts. Its also very evident for anyone objective that Jonas is declining alot, its just the truth and super obvious.miguel13-11-2026
- None of those victories stand, so there's that,wrsty13-11-2026
- No surprise there; it is British Sycling, yes, with an S
Rafionain-Glas12-11-2026 - I like Del Toro but he's not on the level of Jonas, by a large margin.awp12-11-2026
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