Who is Isaac del Toro, UAE Team Emirates' Mexican talent who is breaking the WorldTour?

Isaac del Toro has arrived like a steamroller to professional cycling. His last race as an U23 rider was the Tour de l'Avenir, which he won in August 2023. His first race as a pro, wearing the jersey of Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates, was the Tour Down Under in 2024. A WorldTour event, no less. And, yet, in the second stage, the first time he had a chance, he broke away one kilometer from the finish line and won.

So, who is this 20 year old Mexican that we can already say is a reality within the world's best? Isaac del Toro Romero was born on November 27, 2003 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Since he was a child he began to compete in both mountain bike and road races and the latter was the one he did best.

It was in Italy where he began to develop his career in the A.R. Monex team led by Piotr Ugrumov, one of Miguel Induráin's rivals in the nineties. Little by little he began to participate in races and to increase his level.

Already in 2020, Isaac del Toro participated in the national championships of Mexico achieving an impressive 20th position considering that he had not yet turned 17 years old. Thus, in 2021 he raced two important races in Italy such as the Grand Prix Eccellenze Valli del Soligo and the TF GD Dorigo MO Biemmereti. At the end of the year he participated in the World Championships in Belgium as a junior, although his results were not remarkable, he managed to finish the road race and the time trial.

In 2022 he had a full season and began to show his quality in races such as the Gran Premio Industria (13th), the Strade Bianche di Romagna (30th), the Coppa della Pace (25th) and the Giro della Valle d'Aosta (22nd overall and fifth in the young riders' classification).

In July he experienced one of the toughest moments of his young career, breaking his femur, but he came back stronger.

CONSAGRATION

2023 was the year of his confirmation in the U23 category that has made him make the jump to professionalism this year. He started the season with Top 10 in Italian classics such as the GP Citta di Empoli, the Giro della Provincia di Biella or the Trofeo Alcide DeGasperi. Then, in stage races he was tenth in the Course de la Paix GP Jeseniky in Czech Republic and in the Sibiu Cycling Tour in Romania before making podium in the Valle d'Aosta, clearly improving his performance compared to the previous year.

Then came his consecration as a rising star in the Tour de l'Avenir, first in the fourth stage finishing second in Evaux-les-Bains and then with his now mythical victory on the Col de la Loze that allowed him, after riding at a high level in the last stages, to win the overall (as well as the mountains, the points classification and the youth classification).

This exhibition led half of the WorldTour to notice him and he ended up signing for UAE Team Emirates, a team that with Joxean Matxín at the head is an expert in having young talents on the radar. And Del Toro seems to be here to stay.

Article written by Juan Larra.