'I don't believe I'm a super talent' – Isaac del Toro stays modest and hungry despite 2025 success

Isaac del Toro is growing up fast. In 2022, when he was just 19, he raced almost a full season in Italy with the Mexican A.R. Monex development team, and even a fractured femur didn't slow his development.

In 2023, he won the Tour de l'Avenir and in 2024 he turned professional with UAE Team Emirates-XRG after they outbid other major teams with a reported €2 million contract offer, a deal that has already been improved and extended until the end of 2029.

Del Toro won a stage at the Tour Down Under on his professional debut at the start of 2024 and wore the leader's ochre jersey for three days. 2025 marked his consecration as one of the sport's super talents, indicating he is a future Grand Tour winner and so the heir apparent to Tadej Pogačar at UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

Del Toro's talent can be measured in many ways. He dominated the Giro d'Italia and wore the pink jersey for 11 days, only to lose to Simon Yates after a tactical battle with Richard Carapaz on the penultimate stage over the Colle dell Finestre. Such a painful defeat would have broken many riders, but not Del Toro. Instead, he shrugged it off and won a series of one-day races between July and October, including seven Italian one-day races. He ended the 2025 season in celebration, winning the Mexican national time trial and road race titles on home roads in Ensenada, in front of evermore enthusiastic Mexican fans.

Such rapid development and such huge success could have gone to Del Toro's head. Yet he still has an air of youthful innocence and rarely loses his natural smile and positive approach to life.

When in Europe, Del Toro is based in the San Marino microstate in central Italy. He benefits from San Marino's low tax regime but has never been tempted by the beaches and nightlife of nearby Rimini and the Adriatic coast, admitting to Cyclingnews during a rare exclusive interview that he has been to the beach just once in five years.

He avoids overthinking and over-analysing his racing as much as the sand of the Adriatic coast. But that should not both be mistaken for a lack of focus and determination. He is clearly intelligent, a special talent but he remains humble and grounded. It is a rare combination in elite sport that often leads to greatness.

I was fortunate to see Del Toro's development as a rider and as a person this year. His youthful energy and quiet confidence at the Giro d'Italia helped him to race fearlessly. At first he was surprised by the media attention and our daily questions but soon grew in confidence, was never overwhelmed. Everything seemed to come naturally to him as he matured day after day, each success and each defeat teaching him valuable lessons without ever changing his true character.

Del Toro is one of the sport's new super talents but for him it is too simplistic a term and does not explain everything he does to make winning look so natural.

"If you see how much I work to be successful, you wouldn't call it talent," Del Toro tells Cyclingnews during an exclusive interview.

"Perhaps some riders have something that makes them better than others but maybe it's just mental and maybe we just work hard to be the best version of ourselves. I don't believe I'm a super talent. I want to believe that I work enough to be able to be up there.

"I feel privileged to be in this position. I know it's not normal and so I'm thankful to the team and all the people around me for their help."

The success and the disappointment of the Giro d'Italia

Del Toro confirmed his talents at the highest level during the 2025 Giro d'Italia. He started the Corsa Rosa, only the second Grand Tour of his career, as the understudy to Juan Ayuso but the UAE hierarchy changed on that fateful day to Siena on the gravel roads of Tuscany.

Del Toro raced up front and instinctively joined the Wout Van Aert attack that would decide the stage. He was allowed to ride hard and eventually finished second in Siena, while Ayuso crashed, was caught in a chase group and lost more than a minute.

UAE sports director Joxean Fernández Matxin insisted that Ayuso was still the protected team leader but Del Toro then extended his overall race lead as Ayuso suffered with stitches in his knee and doubts in his mind.

Del Toro's victory bow in Bormio on stage 17 consecrated his leadership and his grip on the Giro, with Ayuso quitting the race the day after. He was leading Richard Carapaz by 43 seconds, with Simon Yates at 1:21 before the fateful day over the Colle delle Finestre on stage 20.

There were some signs of fatigue but few expected the race to turn completely on its head and for Del Toro and UAE to lose the Giro on the last major climb of the race.

Del Toro followed simple team orders to mark Carapaz during the stage. He became frustrated when the EF Education-EasyPost rider attacked him and then refused to ride when Carapaz sat on, allowing Yates to ride away and then be pulled to the finish by Wout van Aert. With no UAE teammates to help the chase, Del Toro was isolated and exposed, as Carapaz preferred to lose all rather than help Del Toro chase.

In hindsight, Del Toro should have ridden his own race, try to follow Yates, instead of focusing on Carapaz and his mind games. It was a combined mistake of tactical blinders and a rare moment of youthful inexperience. A lesson learnt.

Defeat hurt Del Toro but he learnt massively from the Giro d'Italia.

"It still hurts a little bit even now, it's not the way that you want to lose a race when you've been leading it for so long," he tells Cyclingnews.

"I wanted to finish it differently but I was only one step from victory. I never imagined before the Giro that I'd have so much success. It was still a huge step forward in my career.

"It taught me so much and made me realise the type of rider and person that I want to be in the future.I also appreciate all the opportunities that I've had in my life so far, I know they can disappear quickly, so I have to appreciate them."

Del Toro's only moment of anger and vitriol towards Carapaz came after the stage to Sestriere in the podium area and mixed zone. The two have not yet talked about or forgotten about what happened that fateful day.

"I don't know if he's still angry, we haven't really talked since but it's nothing personal on my part," Del Toro insists.

"I have a lot of friends in the peloton and don't have a problem with anyone but I don't have a relationship with him."

'A nice guy and a killer' 

When UAE Team Emirates-XRG hold their media day in Spain this week, Pogačar is expected to announce he will target the Classics and a fifth victory at the Tour de France. Del Toro is expected to be named as team leader for the Giro, having climbed the leadership hierarchy in the team.

Ayuso has left for Lidl-Trek, Adam Yates is now 33 and has become more of a Grand Tour super domestique. João Almeida may also be a Giro leader but his experience will also be needed at the Tour de France.

Del Toro spent the winter at home in Mexico with his family and partner Romina Hinojosa who races for Lotto women's team. He savoured his victory in the Mexican national time trial and road race championships, high fiving the crowd as he rode to victory in the road race. They were the 96th and 97th victory in 2025 for UAE, even if the UCI quirky rules mean they are officially part of the 2026 race calendar.

Del Toro turned 22 on November 27, and he returns to Europe with the Mexican champion's jersey, ready for his third year at WorldTour level.

"I've developed as a rider, we can see that in my numbers, but I've also developed as a person," he says.

He is a year older and wiser, with UAE's sports manager Matxin expecting him to improve even further in 2026.

"He exceeded all our expectations, even mine and I'm the most optimistic person when it comes to my riders. The goal was to win 10 races, it was an ambitious target but he won even more," Matxin told Eurosport Spain during the winter.

"In his first major race, the Giro d'Italia, he put on an impressive masterclass. He's going to take another step forward in 2026. He's earned our trust and support thanks to his success out on the road."

Matxin admires Del Toro's cycling talents and his character.

"We often think a nice guy can't be a killer in races but Isaac proves that's not true. He's not scared of anyone or anything in a race but is never arrogant and respects everyone. That makes him a great rider. His personality makes you love him and makes you value him, you realise he's a good person.

"I refuse to compare him to Tadej Pogačar. He is Isaac del Toro and will have his own great career."