A Mexican youngster asserts himself as Giro leader – he is the surprise of the cycling season so far

Some people grow up in a flash. Twenty-one-year-old Isaac Del Toro rode to Albania, to the Grande Partenza of the Giro d'Italia , full of curiosity and respect. "I grew up watching Richard Carapaz and Egan Bernal on TV. Now I'm with them in a Grand Tour, riding side by side," said the Mexican, still half-enchanted as he looked back on the start of the Tour of Italy.

The UAE Emirates team brought Del Toro along primarily to learn. "He has a free role, supporting the two captains, Juan Ayuso and Adam Yates. However, we are not putting any pressure on him to perform," said UAE sporting director Joxean Fernández Matxín.

The planned apprenticeship, however, shrank to just a few days. When Del Toro slipped on the pink jersey after a brilliant ride across the white gravel roads of Tuscany, he was still shy and astonished by what was happening to him—a young man who, after all, lands on the big stage before his time. He dutifully praised his team, even though it was primarily his cycling skills and racing instinct that enabled him to sprint with Classique specialist Wout van Aert for the stage victory on the ninth Giro d'Italia stage in Siena.

A few days later, much already seemed routine: the pink jersey, the media appointments, the racing. When journalists asked him if he now believed he could win the Giro, Del Toro said: "If I don't believe it and you don't believe it either, then that's a problem." But that problem doesn't exist; the experts now believe he can win the Giro overall. Whether he'll achieve it this year is another matter.

Del Toro was practically born into cycling. His father, Jo Del Toro, was a cyclist himself. And his brother Ángel, two years older, also rode a bike. When Isaac was twelve, he followed his brother's example. "At first, I didn't think much of it. The bike was just there. But school and friends were more important to me," he said. In his hometown of Ensenada, a coastal town in Baja California, surfing and sailing are more popular anyway.

But Del Toro quickly discovered his talent. "At 15, I realized this was a really good thing, and I started pursuing it more seriously." A video from this time shows him as a cyclist eager to learn.

While still a teenager, Del Toro moved to Europe. In San Marino, he participated in the development program of the AR Monex cycling team. The team continues to seek out talent from Mexico and regularly publishes performance testing dates for age groups 13 to 22 on its website.

Those accepted live in San Marino for nine months of the year and participate in races in Europe. The cooperation with the San Marino school authorities is unique: lessons are held in Italian and Spanish. Del Toro's girlfriend Romina Hinojosa, also a professional cyclist from Mexico, also used AR Monex as a launching pad – she now rides on the Belgian Lotto team.

In San Marino, Del Toro found fellow Italian talents of the same age. Davide Piganzoli and Giulio Pellizzari also live in the same building, just one floor up. They are also currently competing in the Giro. Pellizzari is Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe's best climbing hope following Primoz Roglic 's withdrawal and is ninth overall. Piganzoli rides for the second-tier Polti Visitmalta team and is twelfth overall.

The trio is arguably the most exciting household in cycling's future. At the 2023 Tour de l'Avenir, the most important junior race, they finished in the top three places – Del Toro ahead of Pellizzari and Piganzoli. The three friends even prepared for the race on the same roads. "Piganzoli and I also invited him for pizza and ice cream afterward, and then he dared to beat us," joked Pellizzari.

The three have already competed in numerous junior races together. Initially, Pellizzari was even stronger. "Now it's the opposite," he said shortly after the Tour de l'Avenir. And in the months that followed, the gap grew even wider. "The environment makes the difference. Isaac was already training with Pogacar, Ayuso, and all the other greats. That gives you confidence in your own resources," he said at the beginning of 2024. At that time, Del Toro had already taken his first World Tour victory in Australia, while Pellizzari stayed with the second-tier Bardiani team for another year before being signed by Red Bull at the start of this season. At the mountain finish at San Valentino on Tuesday, Pellizzari crossed the finish line in third place behind his compatriots Lorenzo Fortunato and Christian Scaroni.

The youngster Del Toro now even has an advantage over Tadej Pogacar . He is more explosive than Pogacar was at his age, which he has already underlined by collecting bonus seconds in this Giro. Del Toro demonstrated how skilled he is on the bike both when riding over the gravel on stage 9 and during the mass crash on stage 14. After being hit by a colleague, he quickly got back on his bike and found his way back onto the road so quickly that he was one of the few general classification riders in the first chasing group to reach the finish.

On Tuesday, however, on the 16th stage over four mountains, Del Toro faltered and lost crucial seconds in the battle for the overall victory. On the final climb, he was unable to respond to the attack by Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, who made up a 1:36 minute deficit and is now third overall, just 31 seconds behind Del Toro. The Mortirolo Pass and the Colle delle Finestre now await the riders as the ultimate tests of maturity. Within the team, Del Toro is now the Giro captain. "We're riding for him now," UAE sports director Fernández Matxín explained the new hierarchy on Monday, the final rest day. He said this before captain Ayuso fell far behind on Tuesday.

However, Del Toro can no longer claim one distinction: He is already too old to become the youngest Giro winner in history. For now, that remains Fausto Coppi; he was 20 years old at the time of his triumph in 1940 .