Isaac del Toro abandons Itzulia Basque Country after stage three crash
Mexican champion suffers road rash, with full extent of injuries still to be revealed
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UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Isaac del Toro abandoned Itzulia Basque Country after a crash on Wednesday's third stage.
The Mexican champion was one of a handful of riders who came down with around 83km remaining en route to the day's finish in Basauri.
A video shared by TNT Sports on Instagram showed Del Toro limping at the side of the road after the crash, with ripped bib shorts and grazes down his right side. He initially remounted his bike to try and continue the race, only to retire to his team car shortly afterwards.
Article continues belowA post shared by TNT Sports Cycling (@tntsportscycling)
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Del Toro went into the stage eighth in the overall standings, 2:44 down on the leader Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM). Having won the UAE Tour in February and Tirreno-Adriatico last month, he was expected to challenge for the title as the week went on.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG is yet to release a statement detailing the full extent of Del Toro's injuries.
The 22-year-old's programme was previously scheduled to include the Ardennes treble of Amstel Gold Race (19 April), La Flèche Wallonne (22 April) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (26 April), before the Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes and a Tour de France debut in July.
Wednesday's stage of Itzulia Basque Country was won by Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers), who was among an 11-rider breakaway that lasted to the line.
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Tom joined Cycling Weekly as a news and features writer in the summer of 2022, having previously contributed as a freelancer and been host of the TT Podcast. He is fluent in French and Spanish, and holds a master's degree in International Journalism.
An enthusiastic cyclist himself, Tom likes it most when the road goes uphill, and actively seeks out double-figure gradients on his rides. His best result is 28th in a hill-climb competition, albeit out of 40 entrants.
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