Stage 2 of the Tour de France finally ended more than happily for debutant Isaac del Toro but not before UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had a major mid-race scare when he had a mechanical issue and was initially forced to rely on rival squads to bail him out.
Some 60 kilometres before raising his arms in victory on the Montjuic summit in Barcelona, Del Toro was forced to dismount after a reported problem with his gears, and he stood on the side of the road, trying to wave down his team cars.
The only problem was that they didn't see him in time, so drove straight past the Mexican.
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A visibly frustrated Del Toro then shouted something fortunately inaudible into his race radio, but unexpected help was on its way, in any case. First a Visma-Lease a Bike and then a Netcompany-Ineos team car spotted Del Toro was in trouble, and both stopped to lend a hand.
First a Visma mechanic could be seen getting out to look at Del Toro's bike and when the problem was sorted the Mexican was pushed back on his way by an Ineos mechanic, in a display of sportsmanship that put rivalries on hold momentarily.
"I had a problem with my bike," Del Toro said. "I didn't have the time to make myself fully visible so our two cars went past me without stopping. It was all a bit of a muddle, but even other rival teams like Visma-Lease a Bike and Netcompany Ineos did everything they could to get our second car to stop, I really have to thank them for that."
Roadside fan captures the incident
A fine as UAE go back against race traffic
Even while the rival mechanics were trying to help him out, the UAE squad realised shortly afterwards what had happened. The second UAE team car stopped a little further up the road and a mechanic was then dispatched to assist Del Toro by riding his bike against race traffic back towards the rider.
This earned the mechanic a 500 Swiss Franc fine, but at least the situation was finally resolved and Del Toro could get down to successfully chasing to get back on, reaching the peloton, and then winning.
Despite losing nearly two minutes by the time he was back on the bike, Del Toro then went on to win the stage after he was gifted the victory by teammate and overwhelming Tour de France favourite Tadej Pogačar.
Del Toro logically praised Visma and Netcompany for their sporting behaviour in helping a rival in difficulties, and a key top GC contender into the bargain.
"I looked a bit like a cyclo-tourist or cycling fan", Sporza reported the Mexican as saying. "Oh well, something like that can happen in this madness. But hopefully it's the last time."
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