Results Gran Piemonte 2025 | Pogacar-esque Isaac del Toro obliterates rivals with solo attack for fantastic 15th win of the season

Isaac del Toro has had a year from his wildest dreams in 2025, and the Mexican's season just keeps getting better. This Thursday afternoon in Italy, the 21-year-old of UAE Team Emirates - XRG has taken a fantastic 15th win of the campaign by soloing to victory at Gran Piemonte in a style very much akin to his superstar teammate Tadej Pogacar.

After a flurry of opening attacks, the first breakaway of the day was established around 156 kilometres from the finish. The group included Victor Langellotti, Jan Tratnik, Jasha Sütterlin, Matteo Trentin, Odd Christian Eiking and Adne Holter. Their advantage quickly grew beyond the one-minute mark as the peloton settled into rhythm behind.

At 140 kilometres to go, the six leaders had stretched their lead to just over two minutes, with UAE Team Emirates - XRG setting the tempo in the bunch. That pattern continued for much of the first half of the race, the gap hovering steadily around two minutes on the run-in toward the first categorised climb.

Approaching the ascent of the Bric della Forma (4.4km at 6.3%), UAE increased the pace in the peloton, reducing the leaders’ advantage to around 1:40. By the 95-kilometre mark, the breakaway still held roughly a minute and a half as the race entered its final sequence of climbs leading into Acqui Terme.

As the riders tackled the slopes of the Rocchetta Palafea with 80 kilometres remaining, Langellotti, Tratnik, Sütterlin, Trentin, Eiking and Holter continued to work cohesively, keeping their lead steady at two minutes despite the mounting pressure from behind.

At 72 kilometres to go, the leaders still held a two-minute advantage, though UAE continued to monitor the situation closely. As the race moved toward the approach to Castelletto d’Erro with 65 kilometres remaining, the peloton began to close the gap and reel in the early escapees under tightening control.

The race then came alive on the first ascent of Castelletto d’Erro. With 50 kilometres to go, Egan Bernal drove the pace in the peloton, catching a trio of earlier attackers. Up front meanwhile, Quinten Hermans, Jan Tratnik and Adne Holter pushed on as the leading trio, holding a margin of around a minute and a half over the bunch.

As the descent unfolded, a chase group formed featuring Jardi van der Lee, Bauke Mollema, Einer Rubio, Lorenzo Milesi, Ion Izagirre and Marc Hirschi. They gained a small gap on the peloton and sat roughly 42 seconds behind the leading trio at 40 kilometres to go, with the bunch a further 15 seconds adrift and reduced to around 40 riders.

The situation remained fluid as the road began to rise again. With 35 kilometres remaining, the chasers had closed to within 37 seconds of the leaders, while the peloton hovered at under a minute. Five kilometres later, only 39 seconds separated Eiking, Tratnik and Holter from the six-man chase group, as the main bunch trailed by just over a minute.

On the lower slopes of the final Castelletto d'Erro ascent inside the final 20km, Holter was quickly distanced from the leaders. Behind however, there were bigger moves emerging as a seated Del Toro launched a very Pogacar-esque attack at the head of the peloton. By 18km to go, the Mexican had reached the front of the race, joined only by Hirschi and Mollema. 

The trio didn't remain together for long however. After a short rest in the group, Del Toro kicked clear again shortly after, immediately dropping Hirschi. Whilst Mollema stayed a little longer in the wheel, with 17.5km to go, the UAE leader was solo at the head of a bike race once again in this star-making 2025 season for the 21-year-old.

Showing no signs of letting up, Del Toro's lead only went out on the descent, 33 seconds by the time he reached 10km to go. Behind, Mollema and Hirschi were still around 30 seconds clear of the main chase, looking good for a podium finish. With the time gaps still relatively the same at around 5km to go, Del Toro's victory was almost certain. The gap between Hirschi, Mollema and the peloton was starting to shrink though, setting up an exciting finale for the remainder of the podium places.