"Now I believe in everything Tadej told me" - Isaac del Toro takes Pogacar's advice amidst Giro d'Italia defeat

UAE Team Emirates - XRG has a whole heap of young talent and amidst these, many seek for advice from Tadej Pogacar. As a Grand Tour specialist and winner of several, the Slovenian as given advice to Isaac del Toro throughout the Giro d'Italia and the Mexican is holding onto it even in defeat.

The leader of the UAE team never expected to enter the queen stage of the race in the pink jersey, but after three formidable weeks of racing where he only showed true weakness once, he arrived at the base of the Colle delle Finestre still within a very real shot of winning the race. It wasn't to be his year, but nevertheless he did withstand the multitude of attacks from Richard Carapaz, and did not crack - hence riding to a second place in the overall classification.

In Sestriere there were lots of tears both from the riders who were in the day's breakaway and those battling for the overall classification. Del Toro was naturally disappointed to have lost the race but still had a few smiles at the finish, congratulating his rivals and thanking his teammates for the work that had been done for him. Ultimately, he tried to put aside the difficult feeling of losing the race in it's final decisive climb.

"I shouldn't take it too seriously. Of course, it hurts, but that's how it is. I'm not going to cry. I'm going to keep working and I'll come back, that's for sure," he said following the race.

He followed the advice of Tadej Pogacar, and shares a bit about it as well: "What have I learned about myself during this Giro? That I can do it. Now I believe in everything Tadej told me. I want to stay relaxed and take things one day at a time. Of course, I'm disappointed, but don't stress. We'll come back,"