"I've never done anything like that": Isaac del Toro proud of his ride on brutal Mobrah climb despite a defeat

The UAE Tour organizers can be more than pleased with Jebel Mobrah's competitive debut. The fearsome mountain road into the western part of Hajar Mountains delivered an awesome spectacle with many favourites underestimating its steep gradients while others like Isaac del Toro took a more conservative approach, which in the end paid off for the Mexican champion.

The 22-year-old wonderkid of home team UAE Team Emirates - XRG started off the steep final 7 kilometers patiently, immediately putting the feet off the gas when first attacks launched at the front including Felix Gall (Decathlon CGM CMA) whose move has been countered by race leader Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe).

The Austrian continued to pile on pressure with Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain - Victorious) and Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUa) in his wheel meanwhile Evenepoel crumbled, eventually losing two minutes on the day. On the opposite side of the action, Del Toro quietly returned to what was left of the main group and assisted by Adam Yates begun to whittle down the advantage of now sole leader Tiberi.

Eventually, Del Toro accelerated both past the main group from which only Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) could follow at the time, and later also from the chasing group behind Tiberi. However the Italian was outside Del Toro's reach today as he lost 15 seconds on the finish line. Van Eetvelt completed the podium further 14 seconds down.

Afterwards, Del Toro admitted the climb's unrelenting parameters called for caution: "The climb looked really tough on the profile, and I've never done anything like that as a leader," the Mexiacan climber told media at the finish. "That's why I was very careful with the effort I wanted to maintain throughout the climb."

He didn't forget to thank his teammates, in particular Adam Yates, for looking after their young leader when the situation seemed bleak: "The team did a perfect job controlling the race for me and helping me. So thanks to them I felt able and confident to try it in the final."

However Tiberi was simply too strong on the Jebel Mobrah, and Del Toro acknowledged his rival's excellent performance today, although the bitterness of defeat was palpable: "I would have loved to overtake him. But he was going so fast, hats off to him. I really tried, but it didn't work. I'm really happy with my performance and the team's work."

Combined with a disappointing individual time trial yesterday, Del Toro finds himself in a second place overall despite the 10 bonification seconds he grabbed on stage 1. He now trails behind Tiberi by 21 seconds with third place Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) a full minute behind the new race leader.

Ruling out the ever-present crosswinds, does Del Toro still believe to have a chance to pass Tiberi in the general classification on Jebel Hafeet (10.6 km at 6.9%) this Saturday? "Maybe, maybe not. We'll see," the Mexican replied with a smirk.