“Tadej has shown how good a friend he is”: Isaac del Toro seals historic Tour de France podium alongside Pogacar
CyclingSaturday, 25 July 2026 at 19:27
Isaac del Toro is on the verge of completing one of the biggest achievements of his young career. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider secured third place overall at the 2026 Tour de France after withstanding repeated attacks from Paul Seixas during the brutal final Alpine stage. Afterwards, the Mexican paid tribute to Tadej Pogacar and his teammates for helping him defend his podium position through a demanding third week.
Del Toro thanks Pogacar and the team
Del Toro admitted he was overwhelmed after crossing the finish line, describing the emotions of surviving the Tour's hardest week while defending his podium position. “I have no words. It’s just incredible as an experience. Pressure is a privilege and today I really felt it,” he said in a post-race interview.
The 22-year-old explained that the final week had been far more difficult than it appeared from the outside, with illness affecting both himself and other members of UAE Team Emirates - XRG.
“This is my first third week in a Tour de France, and it hasn’t been easy. I came into it in a very good situation, but it is not a secret I was struggling. There was sickness in the team. I tried to prevent people from noticing I was weaker, saying I was okay - but it wasn’t true.”
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Del Toro said the support he received from his teammates made the difference, reserving special praise for race leader Tadej Pogacar.
“My teammates took care of me. I don’t know why they supported me this much. They wanted to see me reach places I had just been dreaming to be at. Tadej has shown how good a friend he is. I can’t feel more privileged than I feel today.”
The emotions were impossible to hide during the stage itself. “If you could have seen through my glasses during the stage, you would have seen I was crying, and speechless.”
Isaac del Toro congratulates Tadej Pogacar at the finish of stage 19
Respect for Seixas and eyes on Paris
One of the defining battles of stage 20 came between Del Toro and Paul Seixas, who repeatedly attacked in an attempt to snatch the final podium place. “Paul is a very strong rider. He tried absolutely everything, and you have to appreciate everything they did as a team.”
“They attacked yesterday, they attacked today, and they attacked throughout the Tour. It's beautiful to see. He's a great champion.”
Although relieved to come out on top, he said he also admired the effort made by his rival. “I'm happy to be on this side of the battle, but I'm also happy for them because they gave everything to compete at the highest level.”
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With the white jersey now set to arrive in Paris alongside a place on the overall podium, Del Toro is eager to enjoy the final day of a successful Tour de France. “It’s beautiful to carry this white jersey to Paris. It’s perfect. We were here to fight in the final to try and win it, and I’m super happy I have been able to perform at the level they wanted me to be at.”
After three weeks of racing and overcoming illness, the Mexican is ready to celebrate what has arguably become the greatest success of his career. “From now on, I just want to enjoy the moment. The suffering is past me. Tomorrow is the last day, and we will go with the flow.”
Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
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- He does have a habit of wanting to win stages on which he’s been beaten. There’s no Wout van Aert to stick with him on the third hard kick of Montmartre this time. Maybe Remco, Mads, Matthieu? Might be fun.RidesHills25-07-2026
- yeah, they estimate 10 to 12 million people line the roads during the race. odds are a couple knuckleheads will get into it. I've seen it at small high school events in the USA, so sadly this is no surprise. wish it wasn't so though.mij25-07-2026
- those crashes were terrible to watch, especially the second. gutted for Sepp. The way Carapaz was riding, it isn't certain that Sepp would have held on, but hate seeing it decided this way. Other than the TTT, what a cursed Tour for Visma. Really wanted to see more of a battle.mij25-07-2026
- Or maybe it's more likely that he was saving it for tomorrow. ;)MajorPayne25-07-2026
- But…Jonas wasn’t there. And now UAE has two riders on the podium, both the Yellow and White jerseys, and Pogacar helped his good friend. Pogi’s teammates love him for good reason: he enjoys helping them succeed as well.DAS25-07-2026
- Stoked for Carapaz. love the way he always goes for it and is willing to risk it all for the win.mij25-07-2026
- I don’t know where you got this from but I’d be interested coz just about EVERYTHING here I can show is total BS if you compare with what he said at the time.Jumpyjohn25-07-2026
- What a BS article. This SOB said: “I could tell from looking at him that Pogacar was frustrated and angry today.”... WTF was he trying to tell us? OMG, UAE lost Mcnulty...Yates is ill, Wellens is ill Now Pogi will lose the Tour and Remco will prevail ...bla bla bla...mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales25-07-2026
- The management needs to change. How will signing them help the team? Do they have the best training regime? Those who left INEOS like Carapaz, Danny Martinez, Narveaz and Pidcock perform better than current INEOS after they left. It seems like talent goes to die there. They don't win jersey, monuments nor GC podium for the past few years. Even their TT technical lead left for BORA.
KerisVroom25-07-2026 - mauro tells us he was a victim of someone else injecting him with something when he was racing (so it's not his fault he thinks) and he was a victim of his own riders doping at home and the uci apparently lied to him about his own riders' doping. really hard to take mauro seriously. nothing is ever his fault, he's an eternal victim. and almost like he's telling us if his current riders are doping, he knows nothing about it. he is so sketchy. if he was looking to remove doubt from tadej he muddied the waters insteadwhkman25-07-2026
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