Del Toro wins Tour de France stage, Pogacar up to second

AFP | Barcelona

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Mexican Isaac Del Toro won the second stage of the Tour de France ahead of reigning champion Tadej Pogacar in Barcelona yesterday as Jonas Vingegaard maintained his overall lead.

Del Toro led home his UAE team leader Pogacar on the short, steep climb to the finish at Montjuic, with Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel taking third just ahead of Vingegaard.

“It means really everything,” said Del Toro, who is making his Tour debut having finished second at the Giro d’Italia last year.

“I’m a very privileged guy. You cannot believe how much work it took to get here,” added the 22-year-old.

Pogacar took six bonus seconds at the finish to move up to second in the yellow jersey standings at just six seconds behind Vingegaard, with Evenepoel now third at 15sec.

With such a punchy, hilly finish in Barcelona at the end of a 169km stage from Tarragona, fireworks were expected amongst the overall favourites.

Del Toro’s UAE upped the pace once the peloton arrived on the finishing circuit around Barcelona, quickly reducing the front group to around 30 riders.

That was thinned out even more on the third and final ascent of the Montjuic hill, where the Barcelona Olympic stadium stands.

Del Toro moved to the front in the final 700 metres with Pogacar right behind him.

And with Vingegaard and Evenepoel unable to force their way ahead, world champion Pogacar looked around repeatedly -- seemingly holding something back -- before letting his teammate take the glory.

That helped Del Toro move up to fourth overall at 16sec, with Spaniard Juan Ayuso fifth at 19sec.

“I cannot believe what I just did,” said Del Toro.

“To appreciate Tadej, being in the same team as him, and the best team in the world.

“It’s just really like full emotions, and you cannot believe how it feels now for me, and especially for my country,” added Del Toro.