Del Toro Detonates on Solaison: UAE's Young Climber Steals Yellow on the Final Day

The answer came on the Plateau de Solaison's final stretch.

Isaac del Toro had spent the week as the threat that never quite materialised, the UAE climber who was good enough to win stages but carrying a deficit to yellow that looked like it required more than one climb to eliminate. Then he attacked on Sunday's Solaison — 11 kilometres at above nine percent — and rode alone to the summit finish, winning Stage 8 and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes overall with it.

Del Toro had started the day third in the general classification, 49 seconds behind Luke Tuckwell's yellow jersey. He finished it as the race winner.

How the Stage Unfolded

The four-climb design of Stage 8 was designed to decide this race's open GC question across 120.1 kilometres and 3,860 metres of elevation: could Tuckwell and Jorgenson protect a 42-and-49-second gap against a UAE team that had both del Toro and Ayuso within range?

The Col du Pré and the Montée de Bisanne spent most of their length answering the early part of that question. The front group stayed together longer than the gradients suggested it should — teams protecting their leaders, domestiques doing the work of tempo without sacrificing the GC riders behind them. The Col des Aravis, the stage's third classified climb, narrowed the front group further without breaking it.

The Solaison is where it came apart.

Del Toro went. His attack separated from whatever remained of the pursuing group. Luke Tuckwell — who had defended yellow since Stage 6, when his Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe teammate Van Gils won at Crest-Voland and Tuckwell took the jersey — finally cracked. The yellow jersey that had held since the end of the first week left with the gap.

Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), who had held second overall at 42 seconds entering the final stage, lost contact with the leading group in the GC fight on the Solaison. He dropped from second to fourth in the final classification — a reversal that cost him the podium after spending most of the week in position to claim it.

Juan Ayuso, del Toro's UAE teammate, finished second on the stage at one minute back. Tobias Halland Johannessen was third, two seconds further back. A UAE 1-2 on the deciding day.

The Final Standings

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 2. Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +0:54 3. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1:17

Jorgenson fourth; the exact gap to be confirmed.

Tuckwell's second-place overall is not a loss in the sense that the pre-race preview would have suggested — he came into this race as a legitimate GC contender and spent five days in yellow. The Tour de France management who watched this race saw a rider who can hold yellow against a strong field until a UAE climber at peak form decides to take it. That's a specific data point.

Del Toro is 21. His win is significant on its own terms and also as a signal about UAE's depth going into July. A team with Pogačar at its centre now also has a rider who wins stage-race GC competitions when Pogačar isn't in the field.

The Tour de Suisse starts Wednesday (June 17). Several of this week's GC riders — Jorgenson confirmed, others expected — are heading directly to Switzerland for the final preparation block before the Tour de France.

Del Toro's trajectory in that context is the question the July prediction community will be discussing over the next ten days. He won the Tour Auvergne with an attack that reversed a 49-second deficit on a final climb at an altitude race. What he does at Suisse — if he starts — will provide further data.

For the stage route guide — Col du Pré, Bisanne, Aravis, and the Solaison approaches as cycling destinations — see our Aravis and Beaufortain cycling guide. For our live Stage 8 coverage published during the race, see yesterday's Stage 8 preview. For Stage 7's Grand Colombier, see the Stage 7 field report.