Del Toro Wins in Barcelona as Pogacar Gifts Stage 2 to His Young Teammate
Isaac del Toro took the biggest win of his young career on stage 2 of the Tour de France, surging clear on the Cote de Montjuic in Barcelona after Tadej Pogacar visibly eased up in the final metres to let his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate cross the line first. It was a stunning show of strength from the sport's dominant squad on a punchy, unpredictable finale.
The 168.5km stage from Tarragona to Barcelona built to a triple ascent of the Montjuic circuit, the same climb that has decided countless finishes at the Volta a Catalunya. UAE controlled the front of the race for much of the closing hour, and when Pogacar launched what looked like a stage-winning acceleration inside the final 300 metres, only Del Toro could follow. The Mexican came around his leader in the closing strides, with Pogacar sitting up to hand him the victory.
Del Toro becomes only the second Mexican rider ever to win a stage of the Tour de France, and he did it on his Grand Tour debut at the race. After his breakthrough 2025 season, the 22-year-old confirmed his status as one of the most exciting talents in the peloton, and UAE's willingness to reward him spoke volumes about the depth of their ambition this July.
Remco Evenepoel sprinted to third place, timing his effort to nip past race leader Jonas Vingegaard, who took fourth on the same time. The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe leader's four-second time bonus was enough to move him up the general classification, a small but meaningful gain on a day that once again underlined how tightly matched the big four are.
Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey he claimed with Visma-Lease a Bike in the opening team time trial, but his overall lead was trimmed to just six seconds. Pogacar's ten-second stage bonus, added to his second place, hauled him back to within touching distance of the summit of the standings. Evenepoel sits third at fifteen seconds, with Del Toro's stage-winning bonus lifting him to fourth at sixteen seconds and into the white jersey as the best young rider.
The general classification could hardly be tighter heading into the mountains. Vingegaard leads Pogacar by six seconds, and the top four are separated by just sixteen. With the race crossing into the French Pyrenees on stage 3, the phoney war of the opening weekend is over and the first genuine climbing test now looms.
For UAE, the day was close to perfect: a stage win, a jersey, and Pogacar clawing back time on the maillot jaune without expending a single extra watt at the finish. For Vingegaard, holding yellow into the mountains keeps the psychological edge, but the margins are wafer-thin and the hardest days are still to come.