Tour de France Stage 2: Del Toro Triumphs in Barcelona on Race Debut

The UAE Emirates-XRG team posted the perfect response to Jonas Vingegaard’s success on stage 1 of the Tour de France, with Isaac Del Toro winning the second stage in Barcelona.

He sprinted to victory from a very small, select group thinned out by teammate Brandon McNulty, with Jonas Vingegaard tracking him but then slipping back slightly and Tadej Pogačar moving through for second.

Pogačar looked capable of winning but held back, allowing his young teammate to win on his Tour debut and ensuring a UAE 1-2 on the stage.

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) showed fine form in taking third, just ahead of Vingegaard. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) took fifth but lost three seconds.

Vingegaard continues to lead overall, but his advantage over Pogačar has been reduced by half to six seconds. Evenepoel jumps up two places to third courtesy of his win bonus, while the ten seconds bonus Del Toro got sees him also move up two places. He is now fourth, 16 seconds off yellow.

“It means really everything,” the young Mexican rider grinned. “I said before I’m a very privileged guy. You cannot believe how much we worked as a team to be here.

“There was plenty of confidence from the whole team, really. This is the work of everybody and my family and friends where I grew up.

“I cannot believe I just did it in this attempt, it’s just insane. I truly appreciate being in the same team as Tadej in the best team in the world. It was really like full emotions, you cannot believe how it feels now for me, especially from my country with everything that’s going on [in the football World Cup]. It’s just insane. Thanks to my teammates.”

Del Toro owes a lot to Pogačar but also too to Brandon McNulty. The American rider did a huge ride on the finishing circuit, reducing the group right down on the climbs and paving the way for a huge 1-2 by his team at the finish.

Q36.5 Procycling and UAE on a mission to control race

Stage 2 of the Tour de France was the first road stage of the race, and packed 2,500 meters of elevation into a punchy 168.5km from Tarragona to Barcelona. The second half of the stage was particularly tough, taking in three laps of a 12.2km circuit. The Côte du Château de Montjuïc averaged 9.3 percent over 1.6km, making it a perfect stage for puncheur-type riders.

Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla) attacked 4km into the stage, together with Frank van de Broek (Picnic PostNL). They were quickly joined by Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros-RGA), who started the day just 1’12 off the yellow jersey.

He soon became virtual leader, with the gap soaring to 3:55 by km 27, prompting Tom Pidcock’s Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling team to work to bring it back down. They reduced the gap to 1:30 by the intermediate sprint, where Molenaar took top points from Engelhardt and Van de Broek. Further back former green jersey Biniam Girmay (NSN Pro Cycling) beat Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and others in the peloton.

Molenaar also led over the top of the category 2 Côte de Begue, but Pogačar’s UAE Emirates-XRG had been riding and had hacked down the gap to just 25 seconds. That prompted Van den Broek to drop back, but the other two persisted.

Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) punctured and had to wait for the second team car to get a bike, ending up with a two minute gap and a big chase. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) had to change a bike and also used energy in chasing, finally getting back on with 31km left. The break was caught at this point, just as the finishing circuits began.

UAE flexes, takes stage

The stronger riders pushed forward the first time up the Côte du Château de Montjuïc. Former US champion Brandon McNulty set the pace for Pogačar, who was tracked by Vingegaard and Evenepoel. The gradient and the pace reduced the peloton to perhaps 50 riders by the end of lap 1, with a storming McNulty continuing to push it on the following lap and into the final 6km. Tiesj Benoot led onto the final climb but his Decathlon CMA CGM teammate Paul Seixas was a long way back.

Adam Yates took over and then Tobias Halland Johannessen attacked just before the summit. He led Carapaz over the summit and then the latter went on the descent, but Pogačar covered it.

Mattias Skjelmose launched and got a slight gap, with Del Toro chasing and bringing him back. He launched on the smaller hill with Vingegaard at first on his wheel but then slipping back. Pogačar moved to second and, looking over his shoulder to monitor where Evenepoel and Vingegaard were, ensured his teammate took the win.