Mexican cyclist Isaac del Toro on Sunday took home the second stage of the Tour de France in Barcelona, Spain.
Taking the lead in the young rider classification, del Toro became just the second Mexican rider to ever win a stage at the prestigious event, joining fellow countryman Raul Alcala, who took individual stages in 1989 and 1990.
And he did it during his first run competing at the event.
“It means really everything,” del Toro said. “I cannot believe I just did it. It’s just insane. You cannot believe how it feels now for me, especially for the country.”
del Toro raced alongside UAE Emirates-XRG teammate Tadej Pogacar up the final hill for a dominant 1-2 finish.
A winner of the 2023 Tour de l’Avenir and runner-up at the 2025 Giro d’Italia, del Toro had Pogacar’s blessing in taking the stage.
Pogacar, a Slovenian and four-time winner at the Tour (2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025), is in second place for the race itself, six seconds behind leader Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma, Denmark), who took Stage 1.
A two-time winner (2022, 2023), Vingegaard maintained the yellow jersey without losing time to Pogacar. The three recorded identical times of 3 hours, 40 minutes, 1 second.
A cluster of four riders actually came through the finish together Sunday, as del Toro, Pogacar and Vingegaard were joined by Red Bull’s Remco Evenepoel of Belgium.
That result (technically third) helped Evenepoel stay within 15 seconds of the lead in third place. And despite a mechanical breakdown with 60 kilometers left, del Toro is in fourth after his stage victory.
–Field Level Media
