For a man about to tackle the hardest and most important two days of his career, where the stakes are as high as they come in bike racing, Isaac del Toro is remarkably relaxed. Speaking to the media after stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia, the 21-year-old sat nonchalantly in front of the microphones planted in front of his face, his pink jersey – which he has fought so hard for – resting proudly on his shoulders. He even had time for jokes: “I feel pressure but just from myself, not the team. The most pressure I feel is in this press conference,” Del Toro laughed.
His relaxed demeanour may just be a convincing act – it’s hard to imagine that the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider could truly not feel nervous ahead of Friday and Saturday’s stages. Although stage 19 doesn’t feature one famous climb, the repeated ascents amount to an agonising total of 4950 metres of elevation gain – the most of the entire Giro so far. It’s a day which only spans 166km, meaning it will be fast and intense from the start, with scarcely a kilometre of flat road on the menu. Del Toro knows that his rivals are going to attack him wherever they can.
“There’ll be two hard stages. I can’t predict the future but if I can be with the GC riders and control the race with the team, I’ll be happy with that. I know my adversaries will try to attack me every time they can. I won’t be surprised. I’ll suffer but mentally and physically, I’m ready,” he commented.
It’s fighting talk from the rider who is in his debut Giro participation and is wearing the leader’s jersey when few expected him to. But the reality is, Del Toro has little choice but to be confident. In many ways, this is made easier for him by the fact he has already impressed so much during this race, both with his stage victory and fighting spirit. If he can take the pink jersey home, it will be the cherry on top of a performance that will long be considered the breakthrough in his career so far.
However, Del Toro has also shown us that he is a cold-blooded, pure, aggressive bike rider throughout the final week of La Corsa Rosa. He has been down, but he has never been out, bouncing back after defeat and showing fearless ambition by attacking his rivals. He is on the same team as Tadej Pogačar, the best cyclist in the world right now, and he knows that UAE Team Emirates are used to a certain level of success. They may not be putting pressure on him, but the race situation at the Giro is reaching boiling point, whether Del Toro wants to admit it or not.
“I don’t know which will be the hardest day but I just want to do my best. It will be two big days, I just need to be up there. I don't think the stage matters but it’s about how difficult the teams make it each day,” he said.
His age and lack of experience aren’t the only things that go against the favour of Del Toro ahead of the climax of this race. He lost two valuable teammates in just two stages with both Jay Vine and Juan Ayuso abandoning the Giro due to crashes and illness. With this, the Mexican rider’s mountain support is weakened, just when he needs it most.
"Personally I feel it’s a big loss and not the best situation to continue the Giro without Juan Ayuso and Jay Vine. But we’ll manage the situation with the team. We’ll do our best for nothing to happen,” Del Toro continued.
As the sun sets behind the mountains in Italy and the night closes in on day 18 of racing at La Corsa Rosa – a breakaway stage where the pink jersey was safe and comfortable in the peloton – there will be a lot on the mind of young Issac del Toro. The biggest test of his short career awaits him and how he handles it will shape his future for years to come. He could be the first Mexican winner of the Giro d’Italia and the youngest since the legendary Fausto Coppi in 1940. The next two stages are crunch time – history has its eyes on Del Toro.
