Isaac del Toro wins in Barcelona thanks to Pogacar
The Slovenian controlled Evenepoel and Vingegaard the last meters of the climb so that the pup from Emirates won his first stage at the Tour on Montjuïc in the year of his debut
BarcelonaThe cyclist rooted in Catalonia Alex Molenaar was part of the day's breakaway. He is the son of a Dutch father and a Catalan mother. He was born in Rotterdam, but at the age of twelve, his family moved to Olot, and very soon he started cycling at the Club Ciclista Olot, his starting point to become a professional cyclist. He currently works for the Caja Rural team, which debuted this year in the Tour with 2 Catalan cyclists. Molenaar was virtually the leader for a handful of kilometers, won the special sprint in Viladecans, and was the first to crest the Coll de Begues, but his adventure with Engelhardt ended with a handshake just before the peloton absorbed them at the entrance to Barcelona. The Dutchman from Olot has fully justified the presence of his invited team in the Tour, after managing to climb onto the podium to wear the mountain jersey. The stage was won by Mexican Isaac del Toro, who had the complicity of his leader, Tadej Pogacar, to win his first stage in the year of his debut in the French race.
“A lot of pride, very happy, I still can't quite believe it,” Molenaar explained to ARA just after getting off the podium wearing the mythical white jersey with red dots. “Incredible. A brutal sensation to cross all the coastal towns with so many people.”
The stage that left Tarragona (the city made its debut in the Tour de France) crossed Vilanova i la Geltrú at kilometer 44, the town of Marc Soler, a cyclist who was also supposed to participate in the Tour as a luxury domestique for Tadej Pogacar. Soler suffered a serious fall in the Giro d'Italia where he fractured his iliac crest, in the upper part of his hip. He also hit his neck hard. His goal is to reach the Vuelta, where he has achieved four stage victories, but it will not be easy to be at the start in Monaco on August 22nd. Another Catalan cyclist who was supposed to be in the Tour is Roger Adrià. The Movistar team finally decided that he would not be part of it because “he has not had his best first part of the year". "We spoke with him so that he would recover well, as we need him to be able to do the second part of the season very well,” explains José Joaquin Rojas, sports director of the telephone team in the Tour, to ARA. “He took it well. He was very eager to come, but if he wasn't in top form, it wasn't the best idea”.
Pogacar puts on the turbo to shrink the peloton
On the first lap of the climb to Montjuïc Castle, with the crowd fully engaged and cheering on Pogacar's team, he shifted into high gear to shrink the large group and thin it out, leaving about forty riders. On the second climb, Visma also positioned their riders at the front with leader Jonas Vingegaard setting the pace, and Tom Pidcock also making his presence felt. The stage victory was decided on the third and final lap with a handful of extraordinary names from the world of cycling vying for the win. Maximum power on the final climb to the Castle? Risk on the descent at breakneck speeds? The triumph was achieved in the final 400 meters of the climb to the Olympic Stadium with a sprint led by Isaac del Toro who, at 22 years old, took the lead of the favorites group with Pogacar behind him, looking back to ensure that neither Remco Evenepoel nor the yellow jersey of the Tour, Jonas Vingegaard, snatched the victory from him. The Dane continues as the leader.
Mark Cavendish is the cyclist who has achieved the most victories in the Tour de France, a total of 35. Retired since 2024, he spoke to ARA before the start of the stage in Tarragona, where he explained that “when you arrive in Catalonia, you know it will go well.” “It’s very special. It was incredible yesterday in Barcelona and today in Tarragona it’s great.” Regarding whether the former Isle of Man cyclist misses the Tour de France, he responded with a resounding “no!” The Tour bids farewell to Barcelona with great public success after the team presentation on Thursday in front of the Sagrada Família, the team time trial on Saturday, and the finish this Sunday again in Montjuïc, Barcelona. The Tour is the Tour, even when experiencing it under a heatwave.
Monday, the third stage between Granollers and Els Angles, 196 km, with the finish already in French territory. A stage finish “without public and without caravan” for the last 60 km, those within French territory due to the fire that broke out yesterday in Trévillach.