Del Toro looks forward to clash with Evenepoel in ‘special’ UAE Tour: “I feel responsible”
Isaac Del Toro kicks off his season on Monday with the UAE Tour. The 22-year-old Mexican is looking forward to the home race for UAE Emirates XRG, he says on the team’s website. Although this is his debut in a WorldTour event, he is immediately one of the top favorites – alongside Remco Evenepoel.
“I’m really excited to participate in the UAE Tour for the first time," Del Toro says on the UAE Emirates XRG site. "It’s a special race for me. Not only because it’s my debut, but also because it’s a home race for the team. I truly feel a sense of pride and responsibility.”
Jebel Mobrah
The UAE Tour (February 16-22) seems to feature three crucial stages for the general classification. On day two, there is a flat time trial of 12.9 kilometers, followed the next day by a finish on the extremely steep Jebel Mobrah (where the last 6.8 kilometers climb at nearly twelve percent average gradient), and stage six concludes on the well-known Jebel Hafeet, an an almost eleven-kilometer climb averaging seven percent.
Del Toro is not intimidated by the climbing. “I’ve spent some time scouting a few of the key stages to familiarize myself with the roads and decisive moments, and that has given me a lot of confidence,” he says. “The level here will be very high, with some of the best riders in the world at the start, but as a group, we have prepared very well and we are ready to give our utmost and race aggressively.”
‘Many options’
Tadej Pogacar, who has won the UAE Tour three times, will start his season later (at Strade Bianche). Nevertheless, UAE Emirates XRG presents a strong squad. Alongside Del Toro, the home team will field Adam Yates, Juan Sebastián Molano, Rune Herregodts, Nils Politt, Kevin Vermaerke, and Florian Vermeersch.
“I hope for a good performance, but we also have the class and experience of someone like Yates and Molano for the sprints, so we have many options,” says Del Toro.
