{"id":542077,"date":"2026-03-15T14:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T14:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542077\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T14:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T14:07:11","slug":"why-del-toro-is-still-riding-in-pogacars-shadow-and-why-thats-exactly-the-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542077\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Del Toro is still riding in Pogacar\u2019s shadow \u2014 and why that\u2019s exactly the plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tadej Pogacar<\/a> has dominated cycling for years, but UAE Team Emirates – XRG<\/a> isn\u2019t content to settle for that. With Isaac Del Toro<\/a>, they have a second team leader in the making for the future\u2014someone who could take over the reins when the time comes. But why has the Mexican chosen to remain in the shadow of the Slovenian world champion for longer?Cycling agent Alex Carera, who represents both riders, explains it on the Domestique podcast<\/a>. According to him, UAE Team Emirates – XRG is actually the perfect place. \u201cIf you want to win the Tour de France, you need not only the best staff, but also the best equipment and the best teammates. In the last forty years, it\u2019s only happened twice that someone won the Tour on their own: Tadej in 2020, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Del Toro, the main thing is that he isn\u2019t thrown in at the deep end too quickly. He\u2019ll get his own chances, but he still has a lot to learn. \u201cWe were very happy to be able to offer him a new contract in 2024. It means he can ride the Tour de France alongside a great leader. Tadej can teach Isaac a lot about strategy and tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so the youngster will be ready for his big moment when it comes. \u201cWhen he competes for the victory in the Tour de France\u2014I don\u2019t know when, but it will happen someday\u2014he\u2019ll already know what needs to be done in certain situations. This way, he has a better chance of winning. His chances of winning increase because he\u2019s already learned a lot from his leader in the seasons leading up to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

Carera explains the options for climbers at UAE<\/p>\n

Of course, Del Toro could already be a team leader for almost any team in the WorldTour peloton, but there are more important things than getting your chance in the Tour de France right now. At UAE Team Emirates – XRG, he not only has the best and most experienced teammates, but also a fantastic staff and equipment team. The team\u2019s finances are obviously crucial in this regard, but there\u2019s more to it than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your team is wealthy, you can invest in equipment research: wattage is the keyword in today\u2019s peloton,\u201d says Carera. \u201cIf you\u2019re a super talent for the classics, you choose Alpecin or Soudal. A sprinter chooses Lidl-Trek, not UAE. Why? They focus on the general classification. The team isn\u2019t the best option for everyone, but for stage racers, it\u2019s certainly one of the best options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading below the photo!<\/p>\n

UAE Team Emirates provides Pogacar with even more protection from fans during trainingThen the topic of safety was brought up. It has been a hot topic of conversation again in recent weeks, thanks to dangerous sprint finishes, difficult descents, and challenging weather conditions. But lately, safety during training has also been an issue: Jonas Vingegaard crashed after a fan chased him. Carera finds it scandalous.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not the only measure they\u2019ve taken. \u201cHe\u2019ll race in a different jersey. It\u2019s a UAE jersey, but in yellow, blue, and red. Why? People need 10 seconds to recognize him, and by then he\u2019s already too far ahead. What Jonas is saying is a real problem. We\u2019ll see what happens in the future, but we need to provide more guarantees for their safety.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tadej Pogacar has dominated cycling for years, but UAE Team Emirates – XRG isn\u2019t content to settle for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,93896,85,6494,19805],"class_list":["post-542077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-isaac-del-toro","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-uae-team-emirates-xrg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}