Isaac del Toro, a 21-year-old from Ensenada, Baja California, has become the first cyclist from Mexico to lead the Giro d’Italia, one of cycling’s three most prestigious events, along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.
Though del Toro finished second to Belgian star Wout Van Aert in Sunday’s portion of the race, he now has enough overall points that he’ll be wearing the iconic pink jersey going into Tuesday’s Stage 10.
The pink jersey, or maglia rosa, is always worn by the race’s overall leader at the start of that day. Monday was a rest day, one of two during the three-week race.
“I cried with happiness,” del Toro said after Sunday’s 181-kilometer stage from Gubbio to Siena, which included 30 kilometers on the gravel roads of the Tuscan countryside, where threats of tire punctures and crashes abound. “It’s incredible, a very beautiful feeling. I can’t even fully grasp it yet.”
Del Toro, who is in the second year of a three-year contract as a pro rider for UAE Team Emirates XRG, holds a 73-second lead over teammate Juan Ayuso of Spain, with Italy’s Antonio Tiberi third 90 seconds back.
The Giro d’Italia is a race of 21 stages spanning over 3,500 kilometers that tests riders across flat stages, mountain climbs and time trials. It will conclude in Rome on June 1.
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Though UAE Team Emirates XRG has four riders in the Top 10, Del Toro’s rise to the top of the standings has been a surprise. He has no major wins as a pro, but in 2023, he became the first Mexican to win France’s Tour de l’Avenir, a race for amateurs covering much of the Tour de France course.
The Giro will resume on Tuesday with Stage 10 — a 28.6-kilometer race covering a flat route from Lucca to Pisa that will be a test of individual speed.
The short, flat stage — the second and final time trial this year — is expected to have a large impact on the overall standings, especially for contenders, such as pre-race favorite Primož Roglič of Slovenia, looking to make up time.
Roglič, the 2023 Giro d’Italia winner and a four-time winner of the Vuelta a España, crashed Sunday on the gravel and dropped to 10th overall, 145 seconds behind Del Toro.
Though there is no TV coverage in Mexico, the Giro d’Italia can be seen on Max in the U.S. and on the streaming service FloBikes in Canada.
Sunday’s Stage 9 in Tuscany was a two-man battle full of drama at the finish.
Belgium’s Van Aert, 30, a three-time stage winner in the Tour de France, outsprinted the young Del Toro in the final meters on Siena’s steep Piazza del Campo.
Del Toro’s breakthrough in his first Giro resonates in Mexico, where cycling lacks a Grand Tour tradition. Three-week-long Grand Tour races such as the Tour de France (launched in 1903) and the Giro d’Italia (1909) are considered the most prestigious and challenging events in road cycling.
ROMPE EN LLANTO Y NO ES PARA MENOS 💚🤍♥️
Ser el primer mexicano en liderar la clasificación del Giro de Italia a tus 21 años. GRANDE Isaac del Toro. 🐂 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/fFKLp11gBu
— Todo, Menos Fútbol ® (@todomenosfut) May 18, 2025
In the past, Mexico has hosted professional races, such as the Vuelta Ciclista Mexico (Tour of Mexico), which started in 1948 and was revived from 2008 to 2015.
Later this year, Mexico is scheduled to host Desafío México by La Vuelta, a cyclotourist event. It will offer amateurs the chance to ride routes designed to evoke the spirit of the famous Vuelta a España, sometimes along famous cyclists.
With reports from Associated Press, El Financiero, Cycling News and Sin Embargo
