Isaac del Toro has completed the first 15 stages of the 2025
Giro d'Italia without putting a foot wrong. As a result, the 21-year-old Mexican enters the final rest of the race with a commanding 1:20 lead atop the general classification ahead of
Simon Yates.
On a dramatic stage 15 that saw Primoz Roglic lose a massive chunk of time and even Del Toro's 'team leader' Juan Ayuso be distanced at times, the Mexican looked far more experienced than his years' monitoring every move and looking totally at ease when following attacks from the likes of
Egan Bernal and
Richard Carapaz.
“At that point, we were riding at the front with the team, trying to take time back from the breakaway. The team did a great job, but then INEOS came flying past with their train, and Egan launched an attack,” Del Toro reflected in his post-stage interview afterwards. “I could tell by how they were riding that
Thymen Arensman was trying to open a gap, and that Egan was going to make a move. He accelerated quickly, but I was able to follow. Once we got away, I saw Carapaz and the others coming up from behind. At that moment, I just tried to work with them because they’re GC contenders too. I wanted to race smart and not take unnecessary risks.”
As a result, the 21-year-old is now just six stages away from an incredible Grand Tour win so early in his career. “It’s unbelievable — it’s an incredible dream,” Del Toro beams, still slightly in disbelief at his standing 15 stages into just the second Grand Tour of his career. “I still can’t fully grasp that I’m standing here, fighting every day to keep the leader’s jersey. I trust in what I want to do over the coming days. It’s really tough, but with this team, anything is possible.”
I was a bit worried that he kept following the attacks that he might crack later like how Tadej cracked when he impulsively followed the relaying attacks from Jonas and Primoz in TdF. Luckily, things calmed down later.