Isaac Del Toro set to team up with Tadej Pogacar for the first time at Strade Bianche

When you have a diamond in the rough you have to polish it with finesse and that's what UAE Team Emirates has set out to do with the reigning Tour de l'Avenir winner, Isaac del Toro. The young Mexican couldn't have started his WorldTour career any better, winning a stage at the Tour Down Under and finishing on the podium in the general classification, and is now set to race Strade Bianche.

Then he went to Portugal, where he was not very successful in the Figueira Champions Classic although he put on a strong performance. In the Volta ao Algarve he showed that he will be a talent in all terrains finishing fourth in the 22-kilometer time trial ahead of men like Filippo Ganna or Wout van Aert. In the following stage, the fifth, he had to abandon the race, not being able to show his climbing skills on the Alto do Malhão.

Now, after a few days of rest, it seems that he is ready to return to nothing less than one of the great classics of the modern calendar: Strade Bianche. As confirmed by Gazzetta dello Sport's Ciro Scognamiglio. We'll see if he goes as a domestique or has the freedom to try to do something on the gravel roads and streets of Siena.