Isaac del Toro reveals knee problems as he returns with UAE ahead of Il Lombardia - "I had the same bike, same shoes, same everything"
Cycling
Isaac del Toro has revealed that he has been suffering with knee problems as he makes his return following the World Championships. The UAE Team Emirates- XRG rider is at the start of Gran Piemonte on Thursday as he prepares for Saturday's Il Lombardia - which will once again see the world's best riders do battle in the absence of Tadej Pogacar.
Fifth in Montreal's World Championships road race, the 22-year-old appeared to be one of the strongest riders in that race. Doing the lion's share of the chasing and pacing in the final two hours of the race, he came just short as his UAE teammate Brandon McNulty won the rainbow jersey.
Del Toro is back in action with his trade team after an extended break, but according to his first interview back in action, the time away wasn't plain sailing as a mystery knee pain struck the Mexican - with no explanation as to its origin as he made no adjustments to his position or equipment.
"Ah, good, battling with the jet lag and also with the knee pain, but yeah, hopefully now we will be okay. So, so let's see how the legs are and of course, we try to do the best we can," del Toro told Cycling Pro Net at the start.
"A little bit, yeah. I don't know why after the travel I started to have some troubles. I had the same bike, same shoes, same everything, but I don't know... But yeah, let's see how I am and in the race, hopefully I feel good and I can do my job."
Isaac del Toro after the 2026 Montreal World Championships
Del Toro on knee pain
Knee pain is a common injury or source of tension for many cyclists as the slightest alterations in shoes, bike position and saddle height can lead to problems, while pain can also come from training workload.
But recovering from the six-hour ride wasn't straightforward for del Toro, who hopes to bounce back and play a role in the Italian hill classic Gran Piemonte. Praising teammates McNulty and Jhonatan Narvaez ahead of the race, he downplayed his own chances of making a difference in the finale.
"I need to play alongside Jhonny and Brandon, both of them are flying on this kind of parcour and of course we need to play good the cards.
Tadej Pogacar's dominance and a new winner for the first time in five years
"I need to be alongside with them. But yeah, let's see how the race development and yeah, we try to do it."
He'll headline UAE's line-up for Saturday's Il Lombardia, featuring almost 240 kilometres and over 4600 metres of climbing on the way to Como in Italy's northern region. The last monument of 2026, a new winner will be crowned for the first time since 2021.
Tadej Pogacar has won the last five editions of the race, marking an unprecedented era of dominance in a monument usually renowned as difficult to win. Now, many of the World Championships contenders arrive confident of taking victory.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I’m sorry but generally the coverage on your site is first class but this incident highlights something I just don’t get with cycling journalism. This accident should never have been allowed to happen, it comes uncomfortably close to the Finlay Tarling tragedy and two other incidents took place within days of this. I checked all of the cycling websites and you all put out basically the same story. Pidcock gave journalists the perfect opening to blow this sky high, what has the UCI got to say? What is Adam Hansen doing? What do the organisers say? Nothing, you all trot out the same easy quotes taken from Pidcocks interview after the race but do nothing to follow it up. I see it time and time again, journalists taking the easy way out but being outraged when it happens again as it surely will. Riders can’t do this but journalists should be independent and should be able to raise these uncomfortable questions but cyclinguptodate and every other on line publication prefer to take the easy way out. That’s the real tragedy here.Paul53108-10-2026
- Happy to help :-)Mistermaumau08-10-2026
- Well, ok but, it’s also a structural, team, budgeting, direction and all sorts of other issueMistermaumau08-10-2026
- I wouldn’t call it an analogy but maybe his criticism is a little unfair. On the other hand, the fact Cicco made a public affair out of it despite having received all the explanations and proof makes me feel he now deserves being criticised for not accepting there is nothing to discuss.Mistermaumau08-10-2026
- Much as I like him (one of my favourites), I do want to attract a little attention to the coincidence of his recent performances in the current context. Not the first time a rider improves noticeably when there’s a job interview to prepare. In the same lighthearted humour of his, i hope the UCI will let him wear it at home as the rules quite strictly state you can only wear it during participation in the discipline you won in, and we all know how capable they are of interpreting rule interpretation ;-) Also, if it’s going to be retirement (please not), I wouldn’t call that an agreement as somebody will probably feel they didn’t get what they wanted.Mistermaumau08-10-2026
- Agreed. There used to be a team willing to pay though. I take all these figures (that vary enormously according to who is publishing) with handfuls of salt. We don’t know how salaries are treated (especially between a UK employer and Andorran resident), we don’t know how numbers are derived and from where, if deductions have been taken into consideration, etc. but if he returns to Colombia, he’s going to need quite a bit in protection money.Mistermaumau08-10-2026
- And another one gone, another one gone, another one bites the dust. Ah gonna get you too…Mistermaumau08-10-2026
- Top marks RidesHills. A great post that sums up exactly Egan Bernals situation.Cyclingsbestfan08-10-2026
- Thanks for pointing out that typo. Now ammended.Prorodsandstuff08-10-2026
- Great signing by Uno-X. Hope he develops and can get som great results.
Vikingrider08-10-2026
Loading
Write a comment