Isaac Del Toro thread

[AlfaLum]

Yeah, it was not a high peak, but a 60s attack. If he did that intentionally, it was smart. He needed to cook Tiberi. If he gaps him immediately, they just do a 1 vs 1 TT in which case the final gap might not have been big enough.

According to Velon data Tiberi was riding 610w for 69 seconds during that first del Toro attack. Thats almost 10w/kg for Tiberi, so quite impressive.

 

[Pozzovivo]

According to Velon data Tiberi was riding 610w for 69 seconds during that first del Toro attack. Thats almost 10w/kg for Tiberi, so quite impressive.

Yeah, that's in the category of strong attacks imo. Also considering that no one else followed it.

 

[James M]

As far as super talent goes, I'm interested to see how Seixas developes. As far as I can tell, the future is theirs.

No doubt

 

[James M]

No Pogačar? No problem. Isaac del Toro steps into spotlight with record-breaking climbing performance at UAE Tour, and he isn't even at his best yet – Analysis

UAE's Mexican superstar scorches up Jebel Hafeet to all but confirm overall victory at team's home race

www.cyclingnews.com

 

[Cycling111]

Without Pogacar and watching Malhao's sprint and Pidcock in Andalucia, I think Del Toro win Flèche Wallonne easily. Ayuso has a good punch, but he seems more beatable. Pidcock has a lot of punch, but he might arrive more coocked because he'll be leading every race until then. But he'll undoubtedly be his main rival.

Del Toro seems to be even faster. I don't see any other contenders than Pidcock and Ayuso like third contender. And nobody is capable to break the sprint like Pogacar did, unless Remco attacks in the penultimate climb, which will be his only chance to win, but that's not good for him before Liège.

 

[HashRouge]

On a stage with lots of mountains after 2 weeks, based on prior performance?

Roglic, Almeida, Thin Evenepoel, Lipowitz, Carapaz, Kuss, Michael Storer, Derek Gee, Pellizzari

I'd love to be proven wrong, he looks to have improved but whether it translates to a long mountain stage I don't know.

He beats them all on a unipuerto.

I veer between getting utterly carried away and thinking he'll be better than Pogacar, and reminding myself that UAE Tour del Toro will almost certainly be peak del Toro. I do think it's important to remember that UAE Tour is a big goal for this team, so del Toro is likely to have put significant effort into being at a very, very good level here. That said, he constantly surprises me, so who knows, maybe there is a higher level to come this year.

 

[Red Rick]

Puts 12 seconds into the great Luke Plapp and were talking about being Pogacars level

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Puts 12 sexonds into the great Luke Plapp and were talking about being Pogacars level

Pogi would have been left in the dust there, just like his big rival Remco was.

 

[Cycling111]

I veer between getting utterly carried away and thinking he'll be better than Pogacar, and reminding myself that UAE Tour del Toro will almost certainly be peak del Toro. I do think it's important to remember that UAE Tour is a big goal for this team, so del Toro is likely to have put significant effort into being at a very, very good level here. That said, he constantly surprises me, so who knows, maybe there is a higher level to come this year.

Pogacar, in his third season, was winning his second Tour de France and nine GT stages, six of them in the Tour de France.

Del Toro will be good, but he's not as dominant as Pogacar, who already demonstrated this in his first GT by winning the three toughest stages.

In Rwanda and Lombardy, we also saw that he's far behind in that level of races.

He's very good, but this week Del Toro, Ayuso, and Seixas are being excessively overrated. Ayuso did yesterday what he did the previous years, but judging by some comments from X, it seems that this is the first time he has ever win a one-week race.

This year, Del Toro surely win Tirreno-Adriatico and Fleche Wallonne. Dauphiné will be a good test against the other young riders, but in the Tour de France, he'll be far behind Pogacar and also Vingegaard, despite Giro d'Italia.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Pogacar, in his third season, was winning his second Tour de France and nine GT stages, six of them in the Tour de France.

Del Toro will be good, but he's not as dominant as Pogacar, who already demonstrated this in his first GT by winning the three toughest stages.

In Rwanda and Lombardy, we also saw that he's far behind in that level of races.

He's very good, but this week Del Toro, Ayuso, and Seixas are being excessively overrated. Ayuso did yesterday what he did the previous years, but judging by some comments from X, it seems that this is the first time he has ever win a one-week race.

This year, Del Toro surely win Tirreno-Adriatico and Fleche Wallonne. Dauphiné will be a good test against the other young riders, but in the Tour de France, he'll be far behind Pogacar and also Vingegaard, despite Giro d'Italia.

"There are levels to this" as the young people say...

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Remember Strade stage at the last Giro? The Bull could be a monster domestique for Teddy in 2 weeks. It's even possible that they will try a 2-man attack (likely until the Mexican gets tired or maybe Pogi will babysit him if the competition can't catch up?).

 

[Pozzovivo]

Remember Strade stage at the last Giro? The Bull could be a monster domestique for Teddy in 2 weeks. It's even possible that they will try a 2-man attack (likely until the Mexican gets tired or maybe Pogi will babysit him if the competition can't catch up?).

They can play their cards and take down the opposition multiple ways, but I can guarantee that Pogacar, barring incident or accident, will win. Zero chance of him showing up to Strade and letting Del Toro win. He's a killer.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

They can play their cards and take down the opposition multiple ways, but I can guarantee that Pogacar, barring incident or accident, will win. Zero chance of him showing up to Strade and letting Del Toro win. He's a killer.

Wasn't Pogi babysitting him even at the WC? (when they were in different teams)
I think it's very likely actually if Del Toro is strong enough. Not saying he would let him win but even this can't be ruled out.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Wasn't Pogi babysitting him even at the WC? (when they were in different teams)
I think it's very likely actually if Del Toro is strong enough. Not saying he would let him win but even this can't be ruled out.

Pogacar won the WC, and it was in his interest to get IDT to ride with him for as long as possible. Right?

The only way for Del Toro to win is to be stronger than Pogacar. That's quite unlikely, imo.

 

[Netserk]

Remember Strade stage at the last Giro? The Bull could be a monster domestique for Teddy in 2 weeks. It's even possible that they will try a 2-man attack (likely until the Mexican gets tired or maybe Pogi will babysit him if the competition can't catch up?).

do like in canada , attack with the helper first

 

[James M]

Puts 12 seconds into the great Luke Plapp and were talking about being Pogacars level

Plapp really isnt the draw card you want him to be. Hes one of the most underrated fresh climbers in the entire peloton he just has zero endurance. Talking about pogacar is dumb tho but thats the same for everyone else too

- Peyragude last year was already elite.

- tailwind degrading the gradients alittle bit and Del Toro didnt pace to climb the fastest but to drop Tiberi.

- plapp talked about emphasizing and focus solely on climbing this winter and season so assume hes improved alot already from last year is likely.

UAE Tour was actually very impressive in terms of level better than Algarve and the caveat is Tiberi. He was better than hes ever been in his entire career and that for feb is high lvl. The numbers never lie

 

[Pozzovivo]

The numbers never lie

The numbers can be close to accurate but they nevertheless need to be intepreted, and people do a very poor job of that most of the time.

 

[James M]

The numbers can be close to accurate but they nevertheless need to be intepreted, and people do a very poor job of that most of the time.

of course but Mobrah wasnt really something you needed to interpret. No tailwind, and the climb is about as close to a raw measurement as you can get. UAE tour was actually impressive lvl for feb and better than algarve.

 

[Pozzovivo]

of course but Mobrah wasnt really something you needed to interpret. No tailwind, and the climb is about as close to a raw measurement as you can get. UAE tour was actually impressive lvl for feb and better than algarve.

Not disagreeing with any of that, but the eventual numbers are heavily influenced by several exogenous factors that are not similar between the races. Let's hope we can get years of Mobrah so we can compare.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Finally someone found the courage to disagree with our mighty @Red Rick

Tiberi:

"Isaac is a great champion, just like Tadej. He could become even bigger than Tadej," Tiberi stated. "We all saw what he did last year at the Giro d’Italia, which he almost won. He’s still super young and a real champion, so chapeau to him."

almost won!

Not surprising, Pogacar already said that Tiberi was the only rival with balls during Giro 2024

 

[Red Rick]

Finally someone found the courage to disagree with our mighty @Red Rick

Tiberi:

"Isaac is a great champion, just like Tadej. He could become even bigger than Tadej," Tiberi stated. "We all saw what he did last year at the Giro d’Italia, which he almost won. He’s still super young and a real champion, so chapeau to him."

almost won!

Not surprising, Pogacar already said that Tiberi was the only rival with balls during Giro 2024

Quote is even dumber than thinking that shooting a cat is a great idea.

 

[Unchained]

Without Pogacar and watching Malhao's sprint and Pidcock in Andalucia, I think Del Toro win Flèche Wallonne easily. Ayuso has a good punch, but he seems more beatable. Pidcock has a lot of punch, but he might arrive more coocked because he'll be leading every race until then. But he'll undoubtedly be his main rival.

Del Toro seems to be even faster. I don't see any other contenders than Pidcock and Ayuso like third contender. And nobody is capable to break the sprint like Pogacar did, unless Remco attacks in the penultimate climb, which will be his only chance to win, but that's not good for him before Liège.

Pidcock and Del Toro share similar styles and racing tactics. I think Del Toro often tries to push too big a gear and when he legs bind up he goes backwards. Tom Pidcock is smoother and has an easier looking spin in my opinion,
Remco smoother than both of them has better top end.
Del Toro has better sprint than both.
I also find Pidcock to be smart and conservative, he doesn't needlessly burn energy.
All 3 riders I mentioned will race for their own cause and will get on the front and take on the role of worker bee when nobody expects it.
I really think that if Remco revised his training and stopped massive volume at climbing and did what he is great at.. Going fast.. Del Toro or Pidcock almost anyone else have a hard time keeping his wheel guy is as fast as a cheetah but insists to covert to mountain goat, that forced adaptation plays well for Isaac and Tom.
Another big beneficiary to the sudden road success of Del Toro is gravel community, it looks like any of his early goals are shelved for now .For now it looks like all of Isaac's gravel goals look to be on hold.
Tom Pidcock is showing extraordinary talent on and off road, guy is incredible.

Also something that Juan Ayuso either didn't listen to or care about. UAE management shower Del Toro with praise and compliments about his character and work ethic, adaptability.
Team says many positive things about him getting along. The way Del Toro acts towards all, but especially Tadej Pogacar is just setting himself up for greatness.

No media, camp or in the bus drama .....he just does his job.

Unless something crazy happens before TDF the team Pogacar brings to the race are capable assassins, Del Toro included, take the pressure of winning off of Isaac you have a dangerous weapon that Tadej will take advantage of..
Del Toro is fairly tall, same with Tim Wellens, they both can work at breaking wind for a leader and can stay on the front, time trial decently.. Del Toro and Wellens may end up being the hybrid replacement for a Nils Politt style rider, lose a little bit of the pulling power and gain better climbing.
I am personally a big fan of Del Toro, exciting possibilities for the future, can't wait to see him work along side Tadej Pogacar..
To watch riders like Vine, JuliusJohansen, Morgado, Christen.a few others.. UAE can have 3 individual great squads Pogacar, Almedia, Del Toro being in some leadership role. Great qualities of Del Toro is being humble, soft spoken and most of all showing patience beyond his years, no sharp elbows trying to clear a way to get to the top step of the team .
Del Toro couldn't stay with Pogacar move at Worlds, he had to back off or risk blowing up. Del Toro's sustained power is nowhere near Pogacar and you wouldn't expect it to be for a variety of reasons. Del Toro's TT skills ,while improving are not at the most elite level...Good to be equal parts optimistic and realistic