Still just 22, Isaac del Toro showed maturity in spades as he paced his effort up the brutal Jebel Mobrah climb on stage 3 of the UAE Tour, admitting after the stage that he was trying not to go over his limit as he yo-yo'd off the back of the group before eventually storming to second place.
Only Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) had the strength to hold off the Mexican's rapid chase up the final slopes of the 14.9km ascent on Wednesday, with Del Toro trying everything to reel him in but running out of road.
Tiberi took the victory and the GC lead from Del Toro by 21 seconds, with pre-stage leader Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) suffering a bad day and losing 2:04 to the Italian. The Olympic champion likely dropped out of GC contention, now sits 1:44 down with only one climbing stage to Jebel Hafeet remaining.
"It was a super hard climb on paper, so I just tried not to pass my limit a lot. I mean, the guys, they were too strong, and I didn't want to be too optimistic, so I just tried to manage," explained Del Toro after also moving into the lead of the green jersey competition.
"I was very careful with my effort during the climb. The team did a perfect job trying to help me and control for me, so thanks to them, I was able and confident to try in the final. I'm happy with the things that I did. Of course, it's painful, but at the same time it's something really beautiful."
What looked like struggles for Del Toro started in the final 6km of the climb – the hardest part – when an attack from Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) drew out a response from Evenepoel, but with the Mexican jersey nowhere to be seen.
As it became apparent that Evenepoel didn't have it, and he started to struggle with cramps, Del Toro was in a group that quickly rejoined the Belgian, and swiftly left him behind. With Adam Yates now pacing on the front and only a few attackers out in front, it looked like the day was set to be Del Toro's.
"In the final, I want to just kill myself to try to catch Tiberi," he said, and by turning himself inside out, Del Toro mopped up everyone except for the powerful Italian and fell 15 seconds short, denying him a first WorldTour win.
"I would love to try to catch him, but he was going super fast, so chapeau to him. I really tried, but I was unable," he said, with Saturday's sixth stage to Jebel Hafeet the only realistic chance for Del Toro to snatch back the lead.
"We will see how things are going, but yes, I would love to try it and to have the same legs as today. Of course, all is possible, the race is open," said Del Toro, before jokingly covering his mouth and pretending to talk tactics as Tiberi sat next to him in the mixed zone.
Despite the pre-race billing of an almost two-man GC showdown between the pair, Del Toro wasn't stunned with Evenepoel's performance, noting that "no, no surprise for nothing – we are human beings, and for sure, one bad day is super normal."
His time deficit does mean that he will need to attack Tiberi when the road goes uphill again in three days, but Del Toro's "smart" as he put it, pacing on today's race puts him within striking distance and showed that he is ready to defend Tadej Pogačar's title; he just needs to put it all together on Jebel Hafeet's 10.8 kilometres.
