“People don’t know he had osteoporosis for years, he had tumours" - Isaac del Toro's father details difficult rise to the top & slams Mexican Cycling for lack of help

Isaac del Toro came so close to a first ever Grand Tour win at the 2025 Giro d'Italia last week, before things ultimately fell apart on stage 20 for the 21-year-old Mexican. For Del Toro however, the road to where he is currently, has been a long, difficult and expensive one, something no one knows better than his father.

“People don’t know he had osteoporosis for years, that he had tumours — he even had a hole in his jaw! All because he pushed himself so hard," begins Del Toro's father Jose, in comments to Katy Lopez. "He needed medications, supplements — things that were very expensive. The body of a top-level athlete doesn’t just run on beans."

Many back home in Mexico are now championing Del Toro as a national success story. But given all the difficulties Jose Del Toro has endured with Mexican Cycling over the years, he's not quite on the same wavelength. "We had to spend so much money on doctors, medication, supplements, lab work… Isaac always dreamed of representing his flag, and I’m proud too — but it hurts to hear these things," he explains. "It’s outrageous, unbelievable… and it’s expensive, very expensive. You pay a high price to do this.”

“They always talk about millions and millions being invested, but I don’t know a single cyclist who gets their travel paid, or their entry fees, or even their meals. I struggled so much with my kids and never got a single bit of help,” continues the UAE Team Emirates - XRG star's father. “It felt like begging for charity.”

To prove his point about the lack of help given to his son by Mexican Cycling, Jose recalls a nightmare situation at the 2022 Cyclocross World Championship in Arkansas, USA. "One day, at a workshop, the mechanics looked on in disbelief — how could they possibly race at a World Championship with those bikes?" Del Toro senior remembers. "They even tried to lend better ones to Isaac and Carlos García. But Isaac declined — he didn’t want to race on a bike he wasn’t familiar with.”

Then, on the eve of the race, he received a very concerning phone call from his son. “It must have been around 7 or 8 in the evening when Isaac called me and said: ‘Dad, we’re really hungry and really thirsty. Can you bring us something?’ I was shocked," he recalls. "‘What? You haven’t eaten?’ ‘No, and we’re so thirsty.’ My God, how is that possible? The night before the World Championship!”

“They say the uniform is provided — but that’s not true. I paid for it, and they wouldn’t approve him to race unless I did. In the end, he had to compete in a borrowed one because the one they sent was for a woman," he continues. "Mexico is the only country where they sell you a new license number every year. Everywhere else, your number is for life — so the UCI can track your full career. That’s why they don’t know anything about Mexican cyclists.”

“I know I’m nobody, that nothing’s going to change, and that nothing will happen because of this. But when I hear what’s being said now, I feel enormous frustration," Jose Del Toro concludes. "A thousand memories flood in — and my biggest pain is thinking about all the young cyclists, Isaac’s teammates, who have already quit. Because honestly, continuing in this sport is almost impossible.”