'He'll have to learn to deal with the expectation' – UAE Team Emirates-XRG back Isaac del Toro for future success after Giro d'Italia
Team fo𓂃cuses on the positives despite losing pink jerꦇsey on stage 20

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:UAE Team Emirates-XRG painted a picture of positivity even after losing the168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Giro d'Italia lead on the penultimate day, choosing to focus on what168澳洲5最新开奖结果: Isaac del Toro has achieved in this race rather than his failure to win🥃 overall.
Whilst Visma-Lease a Bike celebrated and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:EF Education-EasyPost criticised 🙈UAE's tactics, rather than any tactical hand-wringing or blaming, Del Toro's team honed in on the success of the Me✤xican rider.
It's unusual to see a team as happy as UAE were on Saturday after losing the lead of a Grand Tour at the very last minute, especially in a situation where in many ways, it seemed more like a racing tactic than a lack of legs that had scuppered the team's plans. But they celebrated, noꦡnetheless.
"I congratulated Isaꦺac on what he's 🍬done at the Giro in the last three weeks," team manager Mauro Gianetti recounted of what he said to Del Toro after the line.
"I ꦉtold him he should be proud of what h꧒e's achieved. He's become a different and better rider."
Del Toro started the race planning to be a domestique for pre-race leader Juan Ayuso, but took the pink jers♉ey on the gravel road to Siena on stage 9. After Ayuso's fitness𝓰 declined through injury, he then moved into sole leadership.
The 21-year-old stepꦕped up fully to the challenge and will ultimately be rewarded with a stage win, winner in the best young rider's classification and second overall in his second-ever Grand Tour. Long-term, he's the youngest podium finisher at the Giro in 85 years, which for his team is more important than his capitulation on stage ꦗ20.
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"What he's done in t𒆙hese three weeks is something exceptional," Gianetti said. "I am very, very proud of him, of the team, and of how fast he's learned. Of course, it would have been better to win the Giro, but certain🃏ly we've discovered a great rider."
When asked if Del Toro might be a 'possible' phenom🌼enon, his team boss was clear that he thinks he is already there.
🉐"I don't think it's just possible, he is a phenomenon and that's for sure," Gianetti said, adding that this result will likely change the immediate future of Del Toro's career.
"Now he'll have to learn to deal with all the attention and expectation, he'll have to r𝓰ace up front, perhaps a little further up front."
UAE also ൲refused to be drawn into the blame game around whether Del Toro or Richard Carapaz should have worked together or not, suggesting that the young Mexican just didn't have the strength on the day.
"He did what he had to do, but in the end his legs were missi🍒ng," D🍷S Fabio Baldato told
The only inter-team rivalry that UAE did indulge was their ongoing Grand Tour battle with Visma-Lease a Bike, the team they've gone up against at the Tour de France with Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard for the last four years.
Though neither rider were in Italy, it was a Visma ri♓der that beat a UAE rider on stage 20, with Gianetti saying it was "a little bit of revenge for the Tour" from the Dutch team. In any case, Grand Tour hostilities are set to resume in France next month.
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Matilda is an NCTJ-qualified journalist based in the UK who joined Cyclingnews in March 2025. Prior to that, she worked as the Racing News Editor at GCN, and extensively as a freelancer contributing to Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Velo, Rouleur, Escape Collective, Red Bull and more. She has reported from many of the biggest events on the calendar, including the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France Femme𝕴s, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. She has particular experience and expertise in women's cycling, and women's sport in general. She is a graduate of modern languages and sports journalism.
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