UAE coach confirms several riders at the Vuelta and talks about Isaac del Toro: "He reminds us a bit of Pogacar"

Isaac Del Toro is talked of as one of the biggest talents in the peloton and within UAE Team Emirates, there are certainly comparisons to Tadej Pogacar. The Mexican climber is making his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España next week and the sky is the limit even in a team with plenty leaders.

"The first group that went up to Andorra is the one that did not race in the Tour de France. They were joined by Ayuso, who abandoned the Grande Boucle due to Covid, but who was preparing for the Paris Olympics," team coach Giacomo Notari told Bici.Pro. "The others who will be at the Vuelta: Yates, Almeida, Sivakov and Soler, are not coming to the camp. They are lucky enough to live in Andorra, so they sleep at home and train with us. A good compromise to not stress them and not keep them too far away from their families."

By all means, this could be UAE's 8 for the Vuelta. Tour climbers Adam Yates, João Almeida, Pavel Sivakov and Marc Soler will be present and joined by Brandon McNulty in the mountains; Filippo Baroncini in the flat terrain... Two spots remain. Juan Ayuso could be one having also trained with the block before the Olympics. It is uncertain though if he will, mostly as his relationship with the other leaders is not the best.

"The victory at the Tour Down Under and the Tirreno-Adriatico showed that the talent is there. Partly given by Mother Nature and partly well cultivated by those who trained him before, let's remember that he won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2023," Notari continued. "Del Toro is a very strong climber, and this has been seen, but he is also very explosive. He has an incredible burst with high power in short periods. He is the prototype of a winning rider, take everything with a pinch of salt but he reminds us a bit of Pogacar."

Del Toro was third at the Tour Down Under and then fourth at Tirreno-Adriatico only behind Jonas Vingegaard, Juan Ayuso and Jai Hindley. He also finished seventh at Itzulia Basque Country and won the Vuelta a Asturias. He hasn't raced since the Tour de Suisse and has been making his preparation for the Vuelta. "In January the idea was not to let him do it, then they saw the results and decided to send him… with a view to the future."

It will be an experience that will help him grow, after all he will race with Soler, Yates, Almeida… People from whom you can only learn," he argues. Although realistically, he could himself fight for the overall classification. He is the defending champion of the Tour de l'Avenir, has proven himself this year and teammates Pogacar and Ayuso finished on the podium of the Vuelta on their first shot.

"Not even one. Then the strong youngsters are always an unknown but there are no expectations of classification or anything else. He will come down from the heights on August 8 and will race in San Sebastian, then from there he will head to Lisbon to start his first major stage race of his career," he concluded.