{"id":690137,"date":"2026-07-13T23:23:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T23:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/690137\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T23:23:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T23:23:24","slug":"perfectionist-pogacar-mustnt-go-too-far-with-del-toro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/690137\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Perfectionist’ Poga\u010dar mustn’t go too far with Del Toro"},"content":{"rendered":"

UAE Emirates-XRG is undoubtedly the big winner of the first week of the Tour de France. After nine stages, the team is wearing the yellow jersey<\/a> thanks to Tadej Poga\u010dar, who has also won two stages. However, it was Isaac del Toro<\/a>\u2019s stage victory on day two<\/a> that has left the biggest impression on team managers Mauro Gianetti and Joxean Matxin. IDL Pro Cycling caught up with both men on the rest day.It was no secret that Poga\u010dar came into the Tour de France as the heavy favorite. However, it was still a bit surprising that the world champion would dominate the first week to such an extent. In Stage 6 over the Tourmalet, he left all his competitors nearly 3 minutes behind<\/a>, including Jonas Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike.It immediately explained Poga\u010dar\u2019s generosity on Stage 2, a punchy ride around Barcelona that included three ascents of Montju\u00efc. After some tremendous hard work by Brandon McNulty<\/a>, Pogacar looked set to seal the win, but Del Toro was the one who broke away. When his team leader caught up, he let his Mexican teammate take the victory. Both men were overjoyed.<\/p>\n

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

\"pogacar-del-toro\"\/<\/p>\n

Pogacar was very happy for Del Toro and lifted him into the air after Stage 2.<\/p>\n

UAE Emirates-XRG celebrated with Del Toro and Poga\u010dar<\/p>\n

“I’m very proud, not only of the results, but especially of the second stage up Montju\u00efc in Barcelona,” Gianetti said meaningfully, as we took stock after nine stages of the Tour de France. \u201cThat stage showcased everything we stand for as a team: team spirit, dedication, friendship, and dreaming together as a team. It\u2019s not just Isaac and Tadej\u2014the entire team is here to win the Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Stage 3, the roles were reversed. Del Toro set up Poga\u010dar on the climb, and Pogacar finished it off. \u201cThe fact that Isaac wanted to return the favor for Tadej at the first opportunity he got in Stage 3 said it all. Their level of performance is very high, but as a team, we also invest a lot in the atmosphere within the team and among the staff. We\u2019re friends and we\u2019re all working together toward a single goal this month.\u201d<\/p>\n

“We enjoy it together and suffer together. Stage 2 was a perfect example of all this,” said Gianetti. Matxin also saw the same bond between his two team leaders. “You saw it at the finish line, on TV, and during the race… It\u2019s amazing. They\u2019re feeling good, there\u2019s a great vibe between the two of them, and they have the utmost respect for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Our plan is to win the Tour de France, but if the opportunity arises, we can also go for stage wins with Isaac, as you saw in Barcelona,” said the Spaniard, who sets the strategic direction for UAE. \u201cThat\u2019s very important for all of us and for the team\u2019s character. Together, they create a great atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\"tadej-pogacar-jonas-vingegaard\"\/<\/p>\n

After a lead-out by Del Toro, Pogacar won the third stage.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar’s leadership role has its limits at UAE Emirates-XRG<\/p>\n

Matxin sees Poga\u010dar taking his younger teammate Del Toro aside. For example, after Stage 6, when Pogacar told the Mexican on camera that he had actually ridden too hard on the Tourmalet\u2014even for Pogi. If Del Toro had held back a little more, they might have been able to reach the summit together.<\/p>\n

“Tadej simply has the experience and is a smart guy. He\u2019s a perfectionist when it comes to tactics and is very good at reading and understanding his opponents,” said Matxin about that moment of analysis on the rollers, following the masterstroke in Stage 6. \u201cIn that stage, Poga\u010dar was able to read his rival Vingegaard well, which makes sense after a rivalry that has now lasted six years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Del Toro is a newcomer in that regard and may have overplayed his hand a bit. However, Poga\u010dar\u2019s feedback had its limits. \u201cIn our team, the experts are the experts; they are ultimately responsible for the sporting side of things, and we handle that with the utmost professionalism. Once a meeting is over, Tadej might say something to Isaac, but that would be based on their personal relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Tadej will never tell Isaac what to do or not to do; that\u2019s the job of our professionals, our team directors, and staff members,” said Matxin, thereby refuting the notion that Pogacar calls all the shots. \u201cBut of course, Tadej does talk to Isaac\u2014simply because they\u2019re friends. Sometimes Tadej tells him to stay calm or explains exactly what\u2019s expected.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UAE Emirates-XRG is undoubtedly the big winner of the first week of the Tour de France. After nine…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":690138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,109610,101,8782,135345,12183,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-690137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-isaac-del-toro","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-tour-de-france-2026","tag-uae-team-emirates-xrg","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}