"Sometimes I don't understand it, but in Mexico they are crazy about me" - Isaac del Toro on being the ray of hope for Mexican cycling
Cycling
Isaac del Toro is one of the biggest climbing talents in the professional talent. The charismatic Mexican sky-rocketed after his unexpected 2023 Tour de l'Avenir triumph to then win a Tour Down Under stage in early 2024 and finish 4th overall at Tirreno-Adriatico. Great things were expected from the 21-year-old's Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta but despite his best efforts, Del Toro's big moments are yet to come.
The goals for 2025 are not small since UAE Team Emirates - XRG will send Del Toro to the Giro d'Italia in 2025 where he'll form a dangerous trio with proven GC leaders Adam Yates and Juan Ayuso. "The team will definitely give me the space to go for it from day one and if I can go for the GC, I want to be ready. I will also help our leaders, but it's great to feel how much space I have to race freely and enjoy my second Grand Tour," he tells In de Leiderstrui.
In his first race among pros, Del Toro has already shown that he can win. He then backed it up with several other top performances and yet, he knows that there is still so much room for improvement. "My numbers have improved a lot, looking at the Tour de l'Avenir in 2023 (which he famously won, ed.). I was a bit nervous when we went to do tests during our training camp in December, but I am still improving," he affirms himself.
"It's cool that I'm now riding among all these big stars and that I have to beat them. I know that cycling is not a big sport in my country, but I'm proud that everyone who knows the sport respects me for what I do. That means a lot to me, Mexicans who love cycling love me. Sometimes I don't understand that, but in Mexico they are crazy about me."
"I want to improve in everything; in power, in races of five hours, then six hours... Making progress with time, that's all I want. I think in 2023 I've been doing the least hours of anyone in the team. Right now I'm training more hours per week, with the same quality. That's the most important thing and probably the reason I'm getting better."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
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