Isaac del Toro’s victory on Stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de France saw the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider win Mexico’s first Tour de France stage in 36 years, becoming only the second Mexican to taste victory at the Tour after Raúl Alcalá.
Alcalá opened the doors for representation at the highest level when he became the first rider from Mexico to compete at the Tour in 1986, but the man from Monterrey wasn’t just there to make up the numbers.
In just his second Tour in 1987, one tamed by Irishman Stephen Roche, 23-year-old Alcalá, riding for the 7-Eleven team, impressed, finishing the race with a pair of second place finishes on his way to winning the white jersey and coming in ninth overall on general classification.
After a trio of top tens in 1988, Alcalá entered the 1989 Tour itching for a breakthrough. It would arrive on one of the longest stages of the race, a 241km venture over rolling hills finishing on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, home of the Belgian Grand Prix. In the decisive front group of five, which featured Jesper Skibby, Marc Madiot, Patrick Tolhoek and Thierry Marie, a determined Alcalá attacked in the final three kilometres and the gap stuck, taking raising his arms in the air with a five-second lead.
He had a further three top tens in that year’s race and he finished eighth on GC after the iconic final stage time-trial in Paris.
Graham Watson/Getty Images
His second victory would come the following year on the 61.5km flat individual time-trial. Alcalá was a proven time-triallist by this point having come into the Tour with three wins against the clock that season – including two at the Tour de Trump – and he began the race with third in the prologue and his PDM-Ultimate-Concorde team came second on the team time-trial on Stage 2 (that year’s route had three ITTs, a prologue and a TTT, how things change). On Stage 7’s test to Epinal Alcalá bested Miguel Induráin, Gianni Bugno, Pedro Delgado and Greg LeMond, putting 1min 24sec on Induráin in second. The Mexican had a consistent three weeks, sticking in the top ten for almost the full race as he ended once again eighth overall.
A gulf of time stood between Alcalá and Del Toro – 36 long years. But at last Mexico has another real talent to celebrate and the 22-year-old is on a collision course with superstardom.
It’s safe to say Mexico will have plenty more victories to celebrate in the future, but before Del Toro, there was Alcalá, Mexico’s first Tour de France stage winner.
Pro cycling in 1990…
Milan-San Remo: Gianni Bugno
Tour of Flanders: Moreno Argentin
Paris-Roubaix: Eddy Planckaert
Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Eric Van Lancker
Il Lombardia: Gilles Delion
Giro d’Italia: Gianni Bugno
Giro d’Italia Women: Catherine Marsal
Tour de France: Greg LeMond
Tour de la C.E.E. féminin: Catherine Marsal
Vuelta a España: Marco Giovannetti
World Championships: Rudy Dhaenens (Belgium), Catherine Marsal (France)
The world in 1990…
Nelson Mandela is released from prison after 27 years
The Reunification of Germany
Workers from the United Kingdom and France meet in the middle of the Channel Tunnel
Hubble Space Telescope launched