UAE talent Isaac Del Toro surprises peloton with late attack and hits double in Tour Down Under

Isaac Del Toro enhanced his professional debut on behalf of UAE Emirates with a double in the second stage of the Tour Down Under. The Mexican top talent, winner of the Tour of the Future last year, managed to surprise a thinned peloton with a late attack after a ride of more than 141 kilometers. He was just ahead of Corbin Strong, Biniam Girmay and Caleb Ewan, among others.

Between Norwood and Lobethal the organization had done its best to plan an interesting stage with more than 2,800 meters of elevation gain. The riders raced over uneven roads to a local circuit of 35 kilometers, which had to be completed a total of three times. The riders with climber’s legs were especially looking forward to the steep climb on Fox Creed Road, a real wall of one kilometer at 10%, which came back three times during the ride. The last time the summit was only eight kilometers from the end.

Jardi van der Lee colored the flight of the day. The Dutchman, who was a club rider last year but was picked up by EF Education-EasyPost, rode for a long time in the breakaway with Luke Burns (Australian selection). They got a maximum lead of seven minutes, but were caught by a thinned out peloton twenty kilometers from the finish. Two climbs of Fox Creed Road had done their job by then.

Caleb Ewan was still in good shape and could afford a bike change in the preliminary final. His presence also ensured that several punchers wanted to attack on the last climb of the day. Luke Plapp, Jhonatan Narvaez, Quinn Simmons and Bastien Tronchon, among others, took the attack, but their attempts had no effect.

Upstairs sprints to sixth place, Van Poppel eighth
Isaac Del Toro had more success. The only 20-year-old Mexican from UAE Emirates, who was already third in the criterion prior to the Tour Down Under last weekend, chose his moment 1.3 kilometers from the finish. With a lot of power he stayed ahead of the oncoming peloton. Corbin Strong and Stephen Williams (both from Israel-Premier Tech) came second and third, ahead of Biniam Girmay and Caleb Ewan.

Lars Boven was surprisingly the best Dutchman in the results. The newcomer from Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinted to sixth place, Danny van Poppel – who was still pilot of stage winner Sam Welsford on Tuesday – was eighth.

In the general classification, Del Toro has taken over the lead from Sam Welsford. Due to the bonus seconds distributed along the way (and at the finish), the Mexican climber now leads by two seconds ahead of Strong and seven seconds ahead of Girmay and Williams.

Watch the final kilometer of the second stage here

With 1km to go Isaac del Toro makes a final attack, and takes out the Men’s efex Stage 2 for UAE Team Emirates @efex_IT | @Santosltd | #TourDownUnder

Stream the race now on 7plus: pic.twitter.com/LwZYq1NCcS

— Santos Tour Down Under (@tourdownunder) January 17, 2024