Del Toro Won the Dauphiné. Now He’ll Help Pogačar Win the Tour

Isaac del Toro just blew the doors off the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes with eye-popping power numbers and cool efficiency.

And no one was happier than Tadej Pogačar.

Sure, Paul Seixas was already out of the picture — the French phenom abandoned Sunday after crashing heavily the day before. We’ll never know how that duel might have played out.

It didn’t matter.

The 22-year-old Mexican crushed the final two summit finishes, won the overall, and reminded everyone why insiders still consider him the most gifted young stage racer in the peloton right now.

“To win a race like this against such strong competition gives me a lot of confidence,” Del Toro said. “The Tour de France will be something completely new for me, but this result shows that we are moving in the right direction.”

Now he heads to his first Tour de France alongside Pogačar.

As if the Slovenian needed any more help.

UAE gets its mojo back

For weeks, the Tour chatter was building around Seixas and his dream to win France’s first yellow jersey since Bernard Hinault — the Badger — last won in 1985.

Then Jonas Vingegaard won the Giro d’Italia, and suddenly it looked like Pogačar might have a real fight on his hands in July.

In the span of 48 hours, Del Toro turned the pre-Tour hype on its head.

“I want to be ready to do my job in the Tour,” Del Toro said Sunday, adding that he’s ready to help his boss. “Full, full-gas.”

Del Toro gives Pogačar something he’s never truly had before: a pure mountain killer arriving at the Tour in race-winning form.

Vingegaard has had Sepp Kuss, the Colorado “Mailman” who’s been there for every one of the Dane’s grand tour victories.

Pogačar has counted on Adam Yates, João Almeida, Rafa Majka and Brandon McNulty, all strong riders to be sure. None of them arrived at a Tour having just demolished a peloton full of Tour de France contenders across the French Alps.

And unlike most super-domestiques, Del Toro arrives with three major stage-race wins under his belt, with the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, and now the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, three races that Pogačar’s also won.

Del Toro leaves France after pummeling every one of Pogačar’s top Tour challengers who was in the race.

“It’s something that puts peace in your mind when you are going in the right direction,” Del Toro said. “I don’t want to push super hard in my mind. I just want to go a little bit more with the flow and see how things are for the Tour de France.”

Pogačar has never truly needed help in the high mountains.

Now that he has it, good luck to everyone else.

Dauphiné demolition

Del Toro was doing his best Pogačar imitation all weekend.

On Sunday’s final climb to Plateau de Solaison, Del Toro attacked with nearly 9km still to race, erased a 47-second deficit, and simply rode away.

What made it more striking was how he did it. Del Toro barely came out of the saddle on the long, grinding climb — Pogi style.

Juan Ayuso tried to follow, but nobody could.

“When he went from so far away, I was hoping for what happened yesterday, just the other way around,” Ayuso told FloBikes. “He was on another level today.”

Asked if Sunday was his best climbing effort ever, Del Toro was characteristically humble.

“No, still not.”

The numbers backed it up.

According to online power guru ammattipyoraily, Del Toro covered Plateau de Solaison in 33 minutes, 5 seconds at an average speed of 20.51kph, with an estimated 6.67 W/kg, a VAM of 1,861m/h.

That’s a touch lower than the seven-plus Tour-winning numbers his boss is posting, but that is top-of-class power output that will make everyone not wearing a UAE jersey a little nervous.

And that’s all from a rider heading to July in service of someone else.

Visma-Lease a Bike leaves France battered. Wout van Aert abandoned with an elbow injury and a troubling infection. Matteo Jorgenson cracked on the final climb and lost the podium. That could leave a back-in-form Vingegaard more exposed than anyone expected.

Seixas should recover in time for his much-hyped Tour debut, but he won’t arrive with the confidence a Dauphiné win would have delivered.

UAE comes out of the week the winner in more ways than one.

July just got interesting

And this is where things get scary.

Del Toro heads to his first Tour with clear marching orders: help Pogačar win a record-tying fifth yellow jersey.

Del Toro swatted it away when a journalist even dared to ask the question of team hierarchy.

“No, no, no. Nothing about this. Another thing. Not this,” he said Sunday.

Now imagine this scene somewhere in the Alps or Pyrenees next month.

Del Toro takes over on a major climb and riders start disappearing off the wheel. “El Torito” — the little bull — takes his final pull and swings off, and then Pogačar attacks.

If Del Toro is this strong in support, he can pace Pogačar deep into a climb and still have enough left to follow the wheels when the race explodes. That will push the Mexican high up on GC and put UAE’s rivals under even more stress.

And Pogačar has never been shy about sharing the wealth, either. So don’t be surprised if favorite training buddy Del Toro gets his own chance somewhere in July.

That’s a dream for team boss Mauro Gianetti, but a nightmare for everyone else.

Meanwhile, Pogačar spent last week popping wheelies at an altitude camp in Sierra Nevada before heading to the Tour de Suisse in his final tune-up before July.

The Slovenian doesn’t look worried.

Pogačar was already the overwhelming favorite to win the Tour de France.

Now he has Del Toro riding shotgun.