The rapid rise of Isaac del Toro - Could a 21-year-old from Mexico challenge at the Giro d'Italia?

Things couldn’t possibly be going any better for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. The team's star man - Tadej Pogačar - decimated almost every race he lined up at during the spring and is set to challenge for yet another Tour de France victory in July.

Beyond Pogačar, however, the team now possesses two of cycling's brightest young talents: Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro. The latter currently is in pink and staking a claim for all-out team leadership at the ongoing Giro d’Italia.

Watching on from home as Wout van Aert outsprinted Del Toro in Siena’s Piazza del Campo to take stage nine victory, you would have been forgiven for thinking: who is this? An understandable question, given that the 21-year-old is in his second year as a professional. But Del Toro hasn't just sprung from nowhere; he became the first Mexican to win the Tour de l'Avenir in 2023 and finished sixth in the under-23 road race at the World Championships last September.

UAE came into the Italian Grand Tour with Ayuso as the team's designated leader, but an impeccable display on the gravel of Tuscany - while Ayuso was left with stitches in his knee after a fall - could mean that the man from Baja California could be set to take a far more prominent role in his team's Giro ambitions.

Del Toro, the winner of this year's Milano-Torino, put on a display on the gravel that left Pogačar purring as he watched on from a team training camp in Sierra Nevada. The young Mexican had evidently watched Pogačar's performance at Strade Bianche in great detail earlier this year; making notes on his technique and point of attack as he put in a punishing seated acceleration on the inclines of the Colle Pinzuto. Only Van Aert could follow, almost replicating the move that saw Pogačar ride Tom Pidcock off his wheel in March.

Ayuso, meanwhile, was not at the front of the race after coming down on a gravel sector mid way through. "I think for the team it went really well, but I would have preferred not to crash," the elder statesman, at 22, said as he recapped the hectic stage in his team's rest day press conference. "The problem for me was that I fell on top of my knee; it opened up a bruise and I’ve now had three stitches. So that definitely hurts a lot, I’m lucky that today is a rest day for sure."

With their Spanish starlet slightly injured, UAE face an early moment of reckoning as the Giro begins to shape up and become interesting. Does the team stick with Ayuso and hope he can replicate the form he showed on the slopes of the Tagliacozzo climb? Or do they now twist and reshape their strategy around the new race leader, Del Toro, with the team's challengers well over a minute behind?

Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) is looming ominously in third, 1:30 down on Del Toro, but Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) is the greater threat in my mind, given he has won the Giro before. Either way, it is an incredible position for UAE to be in with Del Toro appearing to be the latest GC gem that they’ve uncovered.

Despite the excitement building outside, Del Toro was a picture of serenity as he discussed his mindset and approach on Monday afternoon: "It's my first Giro, I'm so excited to be here with the team. I'm so proud to be in this position, it's my dream."

There are purer climbers in the race than the 21-year-old, a discipline in which any potential Giro winner must thrive, but Del Toro has already proven his adeptness at going uphill during this race, leading the chase group home behind Ayuso on stage seven as the Spaniard took the win.

But how does he now approach the race in the coming days? Will his technical proficiency continue to keep him in the driving seat in the stages to come? Stage 10 is a 28.6km time trial, which could change the GC order once again, although Del Toro conceded just 17 seconds to Primož Roglič on stage two's 13.7km TT. Wednesday's stage 11 is in the mountains, but is unlikely to see anyone ship too much time. The second week is more about playing a waiting game until the proper climbing kicks off next Tuesday - that will be when Del Toro is really tested.

The man himself gave little away, presumably keeping in mind that racing alongside Adam Yates and Rafał Majka, two Grand Tour stalwarts, means that he already holds the upper hand as the race continues. "My strategy now is just to give the best for myself, but also to the team," he said. "It's incredible to be in this position, I couldn't be happier."

The first Mexican Tour de l’Avenir winner, now a first Mexican Grand Tour winner? It's still early days, but Isaac del Toro might be even happier by the time the race reaches Rome.