It took just one training camp for Tadej Pogačar to declare that Isaac del Toro was an "amazing rider", the pair's agent, Alex Carera, has revealed.
High praise from the undisputed best rider in the world to the man who is trying to succeed him as the next UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider to win the Giro d'Italia. With four stages to go, Del Toro leads Richard Carapaz by 41 seconds, although there is the small matter of two titanic days in the high mountains to come.
Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad this week, Alex Carera explained that like Pogačar, his younger charge is the "complete rider".
“There are similarities," he said. "One: they both always sit on their bikes with a smile on their faces. Two: they both have a girlfriend who also races - Urška Žigart and Romina Hinojosa ride for AG Insurance Soudal and for the Lotto team.
“For the anecdote: after the first training camp Isaac did with UAE at the end of 2023, Tadej already sent me a message: 'He is an amazing rider'."
Like Pogačar, Del Toro burst on the scene with victory at the Tour de l'Avenir - the former in 2018, the latter in 2023. Like Pogačar, it seems that a Grand Tour win just two seasons later is on the cards, although there is a lot of riding to be done to decide that.
"If you have a lead of more than forty seconds with three days to go, you have to believe in it," Carera said. "However, Richard Carapaz is in very good shape and he is a rider with balls. If he is at the start, anything can happen in a stage.
"On top of that, we have a very, very tough stage on Saturday over the Colle delle Finestre. In the history of the Giro, strange things always happen there. But Isaac is a smart rider. [He is] only 21, but he already knows very well where he is vulnerable and where he can make the difference. On Tuesday - after the rest day - he had a hard time, but he did hold on to the pink."
Del Toro remains in pink as of stage 17, after he won on Wednesday; on stage 16, he lost over a minute to Carapaz, but he appeared to have stopped the momentum swinging away from him with victory.
Carera also revealed that he had been tracking Del Toro from the year before his Tour de l'Avenir win, when the Mexican was riding for the A.R. Monex team: "If you want to discover a white bird like Pogacar or Del Toro, you have to do more than just sit on the couch and watch the results on ProCyclingStats."
The Mexican rider lives in San Marino, in the same apartment block as fellow young riders Antonio Tiberi and Giulio Pellizzari.
Del Toro's success has prompted a lot of interest back home, Carera added: "A lot is coming in from Mexico. Sponsor proposals for Isaac, requests for television appearances. I’m blocking it all. Stop! Nobody can speak to Isaac until Sunday. Sorry, but I have to do my job."
