At the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes race, we watched the battle of the three “next Pogačaris”, as they were called by cycling experts in the past years. Assistant World Champion at the Emirates Isaac del Toro he certainly celebrated at the legendary Grand Colombier, where he crushed his former teammate Juan Ayus (Lidl-Trek). Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) fell and lost time.
Even before the official start, the only remaining Slovene fell on the ground in a closed race Gal Glivar (Alpecin Premier-Tech), who left the race early due to injury. Also on the ground was Paul Seixas, who quickly lost contact with the majority of the leaders on the final climb to the Grand Colombier. Soon he also dropped out Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe), who otherwise defended the leader’s yellow shirt well.
Seven kilometers before the finish, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) attacked in the lead, who soon gained an advantage of about twenty seconds. A good four seconds was also attacked by Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates), who is known for timing his rhythm perfectly on climbs. The Mexican quickly began to approach his former teammate and caught him 1.7 kilometers before the finish line. Del Toro, who will be the last assistant at the Tour Tadeja Pogačarimmediately tried to attack and get rid of Ayus.
Mexican national champion Isaac del Toro will be a key member of the Emirates team in the Tour of France. PHOTO: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP
He drove to a great victory, which further confirmed who will be the main favorite to win at the start of the race in France. Ayuso was 25 seconds behind, the Norwegian was third Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), and Paul Seixas lost 1:22. Overall leader young Luke Tuckwell, who dedicated yesterday’s yellow jersey to his late younger sister, lost 2:33 to remain the race leader.
Tomorrow’s extremely demanding stage will thus see many attacks from the main favourites, who will compete for one of the biggest victories in multi-day races in Europe.
