In the second stage of the Santos Tour Down Under, 20-year-old Isaac Del Toro (Mexico, UAE Team Emirates) won the fiercely contested second stage of the Santos Tour Down Under. The winner of Lavenir, who is making his professional debut in this tournament, made an attack in the last 1km and already showed his ability.
Local Patrick Eddy chats with security staff before the race (DSM Firmenich Post NL) photo: CorVos
The second day of the Santos Tour Down Under, the opening round of the 2024 road season, was contested over 141.6km, which was a tougher climb than the previous day. A hilly stage with three laps of a 35km course including the second-class Fox Creek Climb, with an elevation gain of nearly 3,000m. Therefore, the layout allows for all kinds of possibilities, such as group sprints and escapes.
The race started at 11:20 local time in a pleasant weather of 19 degrees, a complete change from the previous day’s maximum temperature of 34 degrees. Immediately after, Jardi van der Lee (Netherlands, EF Education Easy Post) and Luke Burns (Australian National Team) made successful first attacks, and a two-man escape group was already formed.
Van der Ley, who joined EF as a trainee last year and was promoted to the first team, and Burns, who plays for Team Bridge Lane, an Australian continental team. Van der Ley took the lead on the first Class 2 mountain, but Barnes continued to take the lead on the remaining two mountains (Fox Creek Climb). That earned Burns the right to wear the Mountaineer’s Award jersey in his hometown.
Luke Burns (Australian National Team) and Jardy van der Lee (Netherlands, EF Education Easypost) ran away from the start of the race until 20km remaining photo: CorVos
Caleb Ewan (Australia, Jayco Al-Ullah) has regained his original sharpness photo: CorVos
The main group was chasing them with a difference of about 5 minutes, and a battle broke out in the intermediate sprint with bonus time. The first was that Isaac Del Toro (Mexico, UAE Team Emirates) passed in third place, and the second was that Caleb Ewan (Australia, Jayco AlUla), who said he was “gradually getting better,” defeated Del Toro. Ta.
Leo Hayter (Great Britain, Ineos Grenadiers), who is expected to make his Grand Tour debut this year, and others actively led the peloton, and the two who ran away were absorbed with 20km remaining. Then, on the final Fox Creek climb of the day (average gradient 8.8%), the Soudal QuickStep train accelerated. Julian Alaphilippe (France, Soudal Quick-Step), who looked like he was going to take off, was held off by Australian champion Luke Prapp (Jaco Al-Ullah), and behind him was Jonathan Narváez (who won the Down Under Classic). Ecuador, Ineos Grenadiers).
As Alaphilippe was pulled away by the high speed maintained by Prapp, sprinters including yesterday’s winner Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe, Australia) fell behind. Prapp and Narvaez continued to take the lead, but Narvaez, who wanted to push the race into a one-on-one sprint, did not agree to change to the lead. As a result, Del Toro pulled up Finn Fischer-Black (New Zealand, UAE Team Emirates), and the faster peloton caught them both, and the race returned to square one.
Jonathan Narváez (Ecuador, Ineos Grenadiers) follows the attack of Luke Prapp (Australia, Jayco AlUllah) photo: CorVos
From the main group of less than 80 people, including Ewan, whose climbing tolerance has improved year by year, Quinn Simmons (USA, Riddle Trek) attacked with less than 5km remaining. Although 21-year-old Bastien Tronchon (France, Decathlon AG2R La Mondial) took advantage of this, he was unable to widen the gap with Proton.
The race was expected to be settled in a group sprint just like the day before, but it was dashed by Del Toro, who moved towards the front of the group at breakneck speed. With 1.1km left to go, Del Toro overtook Tronchon and Simmons and continued to widen the gap between him and the peloton.
“The last 1km felt like a long 5km,” Del Toro said after the race, and Corbin Strong (New Zealand) of Israel Premier Tech, who was in the lead-out train, was unable to reach him. Del Toro raised his right hand and let out a roar as he was crowned the winner on the second day.
Isaac del Toro (Mexico, UAE Team Emirates) who earned his gold star photo: CorVos
Isaac Del Toro (Mexico, UAE Team Emirates) won his professional debut and took first place overall photo: CorVos
Del Toro uses his legs to pull Fischer Black up in an amazing long sprint towards the end of the race. “I don’t understand this situation. Winning a stage in a race that I dreamed of is a really great result. In this big race, all I was thinking about was doing my best. It’s already been a success, and I’m looking forward to the next stage.” “Everything that happens in a race is like a bonus,” said del Toro, who seemed confused but happy after taking a surprise victory in his professional debut.
Del Toro is a 20-year-old from Mexico, which is rare in the peloton. His turning point came at the Tour de L’Avenir, known as the U23 Tour de France, held in August last year, where Del Toro won one section and won the overall championship. He then moved to UAE team Emirates, who won the competition, and suddenly marked his first win on the World Tour stage.
2024-01-18 00:15:00
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