“I feel I can mentor him” – Tadej Pogacar says gifting Isaac del Toro Tour de France stage win was “one of the highlights of my career”
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar has described Isaac del Toro’s stage 2 victory at the 2026 Tour de France as one of the highlights of his own career, after allowing his UAE Team Emirates – XRG teammate to cross the line first in Barcelona.
Del Toro claimed arguably the biggest win of his career on Montjuic, attacking in the final kilometre before Pogacar followed and chose not to come past him. The result gave UAE a dominant one-two finish, moved Pogacar to within six seconds of Jonas Vingegaard’s yellow jersey, and lifted Del Toro into the white jersey after only two stages.
Speaking to official Tour de France media before the start of stage 3, Pogacar was asked whether the previous day ranked among the biggest moments of his career.
“Yeah, for sure,” Pogacar said. “I think yesterday was one of the highlights of my career.”
Pogacar: “I feel I can mentor him sometimes”
Del Toro is still only 22, but his position inside UAE has already changed quickly at this Tour. After Barcelona, the Mexican sits fourth overall, wears the white jersey and gives Pogacar another teammate high in the general classification.
Asked about Del Toro and the way he talks about him as a young rider, Pogacar first pointed to the relationship they have built inside the team. “First of all, he’s a teammate,” Pogacar said. “That’s how we met. And now I consider him a friend.”
Pogacar also said he feels able to guide Del Toro, even if the Mexican has already shown a level well beyond most riders of his age. “He is someone I can pass on some small advice to, even though he’s already a champion and he basically almost knows everything,” Pogacar continued. “But yeah, I feel I can mentor him sometimes.”
Del Toro had already played a central role in the Barcelona finale before taking the win. He responded after Mattias Skjelmose tried to open the race late, then drove towards the Olympic Stadium with Pogacar behind him.
Rather than sprinting past, Pogacar stayed where he was. Del Toro took ten bonus seconds and the stage win, while Pogacar collected six seconds for second place and tightened the early GC battle with Vingegaard.
UAE prepare for demanding stage 3
The focus now turns to stage 3, with the Tour heading from Granollers to Les Angles over a long and demanding route expected to trigger a fierce fight for the breakaway.
Pogacar does not expect UAE to force a rider into the move, but said the team will need to stay alert from the start of the stage. “We’ll see. I don’t think so,” he said when asked whether UAE would try to place someone in the breakaway. “Today is a really tough stage. It’s long and demanding, and a lot of people will probably go in the breakaway. We need to take care of the situation at the start.”
After Barcelona, UAE begin stage 3 with more than just Pogacar in a strong position. Del Toro has a Tour stage win, the white jersey and a place inside the top four overall, while Pogacar has already clawed back half of the gap he lost to Vingegaard in the opening team time trial.
The first mountain test will begin to show how UAE balance those cards. Pogacar remains their leader, but Del Toro’s first Tour weekend has already turned him from protected talent into one of the key riders in the early GC picture.
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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- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
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- I'm picking .... .... Never mind 🫥flyer07-11-2026
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- Love this guy. He is such a pure racer.mij07-11-2026
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