Del Toro's Tour Debut: Can UAE's Mexican Superstar Steal a Podium From Behind Pogačar?
When the 2026 Tour de France rolls down the start ramp in Barcelona on Saturday, one of the most intriguing storylines will not be a duel between the established giants but the arrival of a debutant who has spent the season dismantling fields across Europe. Isaac del Toro, still just 22, lines up for his first Tour as the nominal shadow leader of UAE Team Emirates-XRG — and few riders arrive in better form.
The Mexican's 2026 résumé reads like a season's highlight reel. He opened the year by winning the UAE Tour, added overall victory at Tirreno-Adriatico, and most recently strolled to the general classification at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes "at a canter," as one observer put it. Add in his breakthrough second place at the 2025 Giro d'Italia, where he wore the maglia rosa deep into the final week, and it is clear Del Toro is no ordinary support rider.
And yet his role in Barcelona is, on paper, unambiguous: protect Tadej Pogačar. The defending champion is chasing a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey, and UAE have built a mountain train around him that also features Brandon McNulty, Adam Yates and Felix Großschartner. Del Toro is the jewel of that support group — the rider expected to still be alongside Pogačar when the race explodes on the highest passes.
The precedents for a UAE lieutenant flourishing at the Tour are encouraging. João Almeida rode into fourth overall in 2024 while working for Pogačar, and Adam Yates stood on the final podium in Paris back in 2023. History suggests that riding in the slipstream of the sport's most dominant figure does not necessarily bury a talented climber's own ambitions — if anything, it can carry them to a high finish almost by default.
That is the tantalising question hanging over Del Toro's debut: what happens if he is "let off the leash"? On the toughest mountain days, if Pogačar is clear and the race for second is wide open, UAE may be content to let their young star chase a podium of his own. In that scenario, Del Toro's punchy climbing and time-trial competence make him a genuine threat to Remco Evenepoel and the rest of the chasers for the lower steps in Paris.
There is realism within the team, too. Pundits have noted that Del Toro "knows he doesn't stand a chance against Pogačar," and his loyalty to the UAE project is well documented — this is a rider who has repeatedly said he is happy to serve while he learns the craft of Grand Tour racing. But loyalty and ambition are not mutually exclusive, and a debutant who has already tasted the maglia rosa will not lack self-belief on the biggest stage of all.
Pogačar himself fuelled the intrigue at the eve-of-race press conference, gesturing toward Del Toro when asked about his rivals and reminding the room that Visma-Lease a Bike's Jonas Vingegaard is far from the only danger. Whether Del Toro finishes as a devoted domestique or gatecrashes the podium, his first three weeks of Tour racing will tell us a great deal about the next decade of the sport.