At the end of a rollercoaster week at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, during which it seemed almost anything could happen, the race ended with a slightly chilling reminder of what might be expected in July as UAE Team Emirates-XRG delivered its leader to a dominant stage and overall victory on the Plateau de Solaisons.
Isaac Del Toro’s confident victory was built on a team effort from the foot of the same finishing climb that will see the culmination of stage 15 of the Tour de France in five weeks’ time.
“I’m super happy about today,” Del Toro began in his winner’s interview. “I did the recon some months ago – I didn’t know until two days ago this was the same climb that we do [at the Tour], but it was nice to remember the recon with Tadej [Pogačar], and super cool to have the victory with the team. It’s just insane, we fight for it, and it’s just crazy nice. I cannot believe it.”
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