Isaac Del Toro thread

[Extinction]

It doesnt hurt him yet, probably also not next year. If he ever reaches Pogacars level in the next couple of years the problem will solce itself.

If he doesnt then the GT that Pogacar does not ride will be anyhow the biggest that del Toro can aim for.

In any case, forza Messico!

 

[theyoungest]

In the saddle making the great one proud.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1926645555666526274

View: https://x.com/LeGruppetto/status/1926645555666526274

The guy suffering the most in this clip is Juan Ayuso...

 

[theyoungest]

UAE, with these youngsters taking leaps each year which btw will only continue relative to others, is going to have a stranglehold on cycling with a timespan never seen before.

That never happens. There's always eras. Two years ago people were saying Jumbo were too dominant, the years before that it was Sky, before that it was Contador vs. Schleck who were going to dominate cycling for a decade... they didn't.

UAE already doesn't strike me as the team with the best atmosphere among the riders. If they're now riding against each other for the Giro victory that won't help.

 

[perico]

UAE, with these youngsters taking leaps each year which btw will only continue relative to others, is going to have a stranglehold on cycling with a timespan never seen before.

Some of them/teams will eventually buy out their contracts. No way Ayuso is going to hang around if he drops any lower on the pecking order. Probably 1 or two others as well. It would have to be one of the superteams though because someone like Movistar can’t afford to buy out 4 more years. That’s the brilliance and stupidity of these deals UAE are signing these kids too. It will eventually eat itself because none of these guys are going to stick around when they’re 25 years old and settling for leadership of Volta Portugal (sarcasm implied).

Del Toro looks like a special rider and he’s made a fan out of me.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Looks like social media pressured UAE into, at least officially stating, supporting del Toro in week three, due to i guess mini Pogi vibes. We'll see.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Looks like social media pressured UAE into, at least officially stating, supporting del Toro in week three, due to i guess mini Pogi vibes. We'll see.

Unabandoned by the team?

 

[CyclistAbi]

Unabandoned by the team?

"We will be consistent, he has earned it" - Matxín confirms Isaac Del Toro may be protected on final Giro week

In the middle of the rest day before the decisive week of the Giro d'Italia 2025, UAE has returned to attend the media in a press conference. CiclismoAlDía and CyclingUpToDate were present at the stat...

cyclinguptodate.com

Official statement seems to suggest it.

 

[theyoungest]

I disagree unlike Sky and Visma, as I just pointed out, there's a distinct difference. UAE's best riders are young and still improving, whereas Sky and especially Visma, at the time, had their top riders in the upper echelon of age. Neither Visma nor Sky ever dominated the monuments, so UAE is already far ahead.

Combine UAE's best young riders with their vast resources, and as I said, they're going to have a stranglehold on cycling for many more years than we've ever seen before

UAE don't dominate the monuments. Pogacar does. Remove him and they're not dominant at all.

Also, Visma had their top riders in the upper echelon of age? The only one where you could reasonably say that was true is Roglic. UAE will have trouble as well keeping all of these riders on board.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Abi maybe daddy Pog intervened in the clown show and straighted it out for mini Pog favour? Theres no secret Pog likes Del Toro and vice versa. Could Roglic give him a call too and ask for mercy maybe? I mean for old time sakes

Likely, that is when Pogi said del Toro is the future, that could be interpreted as taking a dig against Ayuso. Furthermore it's rather evident that some sort of civil war is going on inside UAE. They should just be careful, IMHO, as if papi Rogla still beats them at this race, they won't recover for a while, Tour will be affected.

 

[CyclistAbi]

@James M

Likely Ayuso is just the tip of the iceberg, positional war at UAE. And in the end both del Toro and Ayuso are just a bunch of young aspiring men that want to make it in the real world, so no real need to hate either of them for it.

 

[theyoungest]

What kind of argument is that? Of course, I don’t disagree, but it doesn’t change the fact that UAE dominates them—because he does ride there. You can’t move the goalposts to fit fantasy scenarios. Pog and MvdP are devouring monuments at an unprecedented historic rate.

Again, I don’t care about the team—I truly couldn’t care less about teams in cycling. But the distinct difference is easy to spot, and the keyword is age that is all and it shouldnt rattle anyone lol. Thinking they’ll be less dominant in the years ahead with the riders they have and the age they are… well, yeah, you get it. Thats all.

What I mean by that is as a team they're not dominant at all in those races, they just have Pogacar, who is this once in a generation talent who makes up for a lot of the flaws that they have as a team. Certainly their team management and their tactics leave a lot to be desired. Look at how they ride when Pogi is not there. To me that doesn't seem sustainable, you can already see that Ayuso for instance doesn't seem to be too happy.

Del Toro seems to be more like Pogacar in the sense that he doesn't give a cr.p what his team does, he just rides his own race. That's the kind of rider who does well on UAE, clearly.

 

[CyclistAbi]

PRESS CONFERENCE | Isaac del Toro and UAE DS Baldato on Giro's final week - "We mostly want to stay together"

The Giro d'Italia enters its final week and currently Isaac del Toro holds the lead of the race, entering unknown territory as coincidentally the race also enters it's most difficult days. CyclingUpTo...

cyclinguptodate.com

Abandoned by the team.

P.S. At least it should be a tad easier for Rogla, to collect all the stray lambs on the mountain in one go, to hopefully save something extra for the Tour.

 

[Cycling111]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1927012225853583689

View: https://x.com/faustocoppi60/status/1927012225853583689

That never happens. There's always eras. Two years ago people were saying Jumbo were too dominant, the years before that it was Sky, before that it was Contador vs. Schleck who were going to dominate cycling for a decade... they didn't.

UAE already doesn't strike me as the team with the best atmosphere among the riders. If they're now riding against each other for the Giro victory that won't help.

Jumbo won all 3 GTs, but one was Roglic, who was 34, and the other was Kuss, who wasn't a young talent, he was a domestique who had his best year exceptionally

The UAE are all young talents. None of them are Roglic's age or is a 28-years domestique.

But I don't think everyone will continue.
I think Ayuso will leave the UAE regardless of her result in this Giro.

And I think Del Toro will leave the UAE if he wins the Giro; if he doesn't, he won't leave the team. But if he wins, his situation at the Tour will be difficult to manage, no matter how good his relationship with Pogacar is.

 

[CyclistAbi]

So the main plan for week three is to stay together and that was stated on press conference on where Ayuso didn't attend. Go figure.

Anyway, looking forward to week three and lets see on how it goes.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Jumbo won all 3 GTs, but one was Roglic, who was 34, and the other was Kuss, who wasn't a young talent, he was a domestique who had his best year exceptionally

The UAE are all young talents. None of them are Roglic's age or is a 28-years domestique.

But I don't think everyone will continue.
I think Ayuso will leave the UAE regardless of her result in this Giro.

And I think Del Toro will leave the UAE if he wins the Giro; if he doesn't, he won't leave the team. But if he wins, his situation at the Tour will be difficult to manage, no matter how good his relationship with Pogacar is.

Ergo, if Rogla, now 35, beats them at this GT, they are all staying at UAE, the whole young falange.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Then again, I don’t know what goes on behind closed doors or how he impacts team harmony etc, which evidently is an issue. Regardless, he’s persona non grata, and it’s not a matter of if he’ll leave, but when.

Rogla to the rescue, beating UAE at this race, forget anybody leaving UAE for now. We'll see.

 

[topcat]

UAE weren't sure del Toro was going to hold the lead for 3 weeks so they were hedging their bets and keeping Ayuso close in case del Toro cracked. It now looks like del Toro will win the giro (he might still crack but he's the favourite from this point). Also, Ayuso would have to improve to even be second best. All aboard the del Toro train.
(The UAE internal fighting narrative and the "it's just a question of when del Toro collapses" story have been funny though.)

 

[YavorD]

And I think Del Toro will leave the UAE if he wins the Giro; if he doesn't, he won't leave the team. But if he wins, his situation at the Tour will be difficult to manage, no matter how good his relationship with Pogacar is.

Why would Del Toro leave the team if he wins the Giro AND. Ayuso leaves (as you stated)?
Then he'll have an open path to number 2 in the pecking order (only battling Almeida) and depending on his progression and Pogacar's desires and the power balance between him and Vingegaard, Del Toro may have an open path for a free role in the Tour as early as next year.

 

[fenns]

Not sure the meaning of this "stay together". If Carapaz or Bernal go surely leadership of UAE will go to the one who can stay with the attack. I doubt IDT will be ordered to stay to help Ayuso.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Del Toro may have an open path for a free role in the Tour as early as next year.

The role Ayuso wanted? IMHO only if Pogi doesn't participate or gets injured.

Not sure the meaning of this "stay together". If Carapaz or Bernal go surely leadership of UAE will go to the one who can stay with the attack. I doubt IDT will be ordered to stay to help Ayuso.

The way i understand it UAE now has a single leader, del Toro, and the expectation is for all other team members, to stay together, and to support him. So if Carapaz or Bernal do attack, then it's the responsibility of other team members, to close the gap.

 

[Cycling111]

Why would Del Toro leave the team if he wins the Giro AND. Ayuso leaves (as you stated)?
Then he'll have an open path to number 2 in the pecking order (only battling Almeida) and depending on his progression and Pogacar's desires and the power balance between him and Vingegaard, Del Toro may have an open path for a free role in the Tour as early as next year.

If Ayuso wins the Giro, he'll want to be the leader in the Tour.

If Ayuso doesn't win the Giro and Del Toro does, his situation will be very complicated.
Ayuso isn't going to be anyone's domestique, and Del Toro would demand more leadership.

Ayuso's time in the UAE has no future, whether he wins the Giro or not.

If Del Toro wins the Giro, will he go to the 2026 Tour as Pogacar's domestique? Hindley has done that with Roglic, but before that, Hindley led a Tour and saw his level.
Perhaps Del Toro will last another year in the UAE, but it would be a complicated situation. We already saw that at Visma. Roglic and Vingegaard didn't spend much time together as leaders.

 

[YavorD]

The role Ayuso wanted? IMHO only if Pogi doesn't participate or gets injured.

Well, if Vingegaard beats Pogacar this year AND (as I said) Del Toro improves more, there are not many reasons not to give Del Toro free role in the Tour.
He should be okay to work for Pogacar if needed.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Well, if Vingegaard beats Pogacar this year AND (as I said) Del Toro improves more, there are not many reasons not to give Del Toro free role in the Tour.
He should be okay to work for Pogacar if needed.

So basically if del Toro wins this Giro, then Pogi future, as a tem leader at UAE, becomes moot? Lets not get carried away, lets first wrap up this Giro edition.

 

[perico]

Rogla to the rescue, beating UAE at this race, forget anybody leaving UAE for now. We'll see.

Repeating it over and over won’t improve the odds of it actually happening.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Repeating it over and over won’t improve the odds of it actually happening.

So if Rogla beats them does that in your opinion increase the chance of either of them leaving UAE, or decreases that chance?