As Isaac del Toro takes over from defending champion Tadej Pogačar and leads UAE Team Emirates-XRG at their home UAE Tour, he kept his cards close to his chest when it came to revealing what pre-race advice the World Champion and three-time race winner had given him.
The pair have grown close since the Mexican burst onto the scene in 2025, with Del Toro most notably revealing how Pogačar had told him to try and win the gravel stage at the Giro d’Italia, fully believing he was capable of doing so.
He narrowly lost to Wout van Aert in the end, but ultimately moved into the race on that day – a lead which he defended almost all the way until the final day in Rome, only coming unstuck on the penultimate mountain stage to Sestriere, where Simon Yates soared to an iconic GC win.
They then picked up this partnership together in the latter part of the season, with Del Toro dominating much of the Italian Autumn racing season, before supporting Pogačar to victories in Tre Valli Varesine and Il Lombardia.
“I spoke to him [Pogačar] about this race, not in this [recent] time, but yes, during the training camps and all this I did, so it’s nice to have some advice from him,” said Del Toro at the pre-race press conference.
“I will say that for the palmarès here and to everybody, Evenepoel is one of the most complete riders in the new cycling, so he’s one of the main favourites, of course,” said Del Toro, ahead of his 2026 season debut.
On paper, UAE have the stronger starting roster than Red Bull, with former winner Adam Yates acting as Del Toro’s domestique de luxe, so Evenepoel is expecting a…
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