Isaac Del Toro ahead of Gravel Worlds: "It’s a new experience. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible"
Cycling
The Gravel World Championships take place this Sunday for the men's Elite and it includes a big startlist with a quality field. It features cyclocross specialists, former road racers, top amateurs and pure road riders such as Isaac Del Toro who is making his debut racing in the gravel at this level.
“It’s pretty cool. It’s a new experience. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible, but it’s also tough," Del Toro told Wielerflits this morning at the start of the race. “I hope to compete in the final. It’s a new sport for me and I want to gain some experience. But I also just want to have fun today.”
Del Toro won't start the race with big ambitions but it will be very interesting to see what the UAE Team Emirates rider will be able to do. As a climber, this isnt a route that particularly suits him, but the Mexican's presence at the start indicates his comfort riding off-road and he could well feature among the best.
“I sometimes ride on gravel, but not in competition. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m going to give it my all," he assures. In a field that includes the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Matej Mohoric and Tim Merlier, Del Toro adds yet another type of rider to an already luxurious startlist.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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Isaac del Toro is misschien wel dé meest verrassende naam aan de start van het WK Gravel 👀 #wcgravel #gravel #Leuven2024
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