Isaac del Toro (UAE Staff Emirates-XRG) took the victory in Milano-Torino, the oldest Vintage at the calendar, outpowering Ben Tulett (Visma-Hire a Motorbike) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) in a three-up dash on Wednesday.
Johannessen led out the finale, attacking first within the ultimate kilometre, however Tulett temporarily reeled him again in. Del Toro waited patiently within the Brit’s wheel, sooner than launching away within the ultimate 200 metres to have a good time with a bow on the line.
With the go back of the long-lasting climb to the Basilica de Superga deciding the day, the highest riders battled it out over two reps of the stinging ascent, with Del Toro taking advantage of nice paintings finished by way of Adam Yates and the remainder of UAE’s squad all through the general 25km.
This used to be the 21-year-old Mexican’s first victory in 2025, after bursting onto the scene all over his neo-pro season ultimate yr. It additionally continues a surprising begin to the marketing campaign for UAE, with this victory their nineteenth already.
“I don’t know if I deserve it, I am super happy about it. The team works really a lot for this and I realised my first victory this year and I really enjoyed this race,” stated Del Toro after his victory.
“I cannot believe I made it. In the end, I played my cards well and it’s so special. I put a lot of pressure on myself but we know as a team how we want to play. Yates and the whole team put confidence in me and I just tried to finish the work.
“I attempted to play up to I may however no longer spend an excessive amount of power in any case, and I feel I performed it smartly for the dash and for the previous couple of assaults. We deserve it as a crew.”
The way it spread out
Milano-Torino (Symbol credit score: Getty Pictures)
Blue skies welcomed the 130 starters to Rho, just outside Milan, for the start of the oldest Classic on the cycling calendar, Milano-Torino, with 174km and a return of the iconic Superga finish awaiting them.
The fight for the day’s breakaway began immediately from the flag drop, and after 20km, five riders had successfully got away with a gap: Jonas Rutsch (Intermarché-Wanty), Nariyuki Masuda (JCL Team UKYO), Kristian Sbaragli, Davide Baldaccini (Solution Tech – Vini Fantini) and Mattia Bais (Polti VisitMalta).
Mattia Bais leads the early breakaway (Symbol credit score: Getty Pictures)
With little in the way of elevation gain on offer in the opening 150 kilometres of racing from Lombardy into Piedmont, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Tudor positioned themselves to control things on the front, with pre-race favourites Adam Yates and Marc Hirschi among their ranks.
While the status quo was maintained, both Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) and Jorge Gutiérrez (Equipo Kern Pharma) crashed in the opening 60km and were forced to abandon the race.
With the first of two ascents up to Superga approaching 40km from the finish, the gap to the break was down to a manageable 1:40 and EF Education-EasyPost had also begun contributing to the effort alongside the Swiss and Emirati teams for their leader Richard Carapaz.
The peloton was in full flow with teams almost completing sprint lead-outs to ensure their leaders were positioned for the 4.2km climb with an average gradient of 9.2%.
Bais and Rutsch proved to be the strongest out of the break but their day looked like it might soon be over, with UAE, Uno-X and EF all moving to the front at the steep foot of the Superga and reducing the lead to under 30 seconds.
Jonas Rutsch (Intermarche-Wanty) used to be the ultimate breakaway rider stuck (Symbol credit score: Getty Pictures)
With UAE fully in control for Yates, and Del Toro who looked stronger, Rutsch peeled away from Bais to be the last man standing on the road. The pace was upped behind causing defending champion Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana) to lose contact off the back.
Around 25 riders crested the Superga still in the front group, with just one survivor from the day’s early break left to catch. Rutsch maintained and even extended his lead while navigating speed bumps and descending off of the Superga preparing for a second rep up to the Basilica.
Rutsch hit the foot of the climb still in the lead but with the group of favourites bearing down on him. Soon, Alessandro Covi had reeled him back in for UAE and the finale had started.
Uno-X were one of several teams who tried to have a dig on the climb, with Anders Halland Johannessen working for his brother Tobias. However, Jefferson Alexander Cepeda (EF) closed him down before Yates moved to the front ahead of the steepest section with 3km to go and got things under control for UAE.
Del Toro waited patiently as his experienced teammate kept the tempo up and began to drop riders, with Brit Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) sitting in the wheel of his compatriot.
The Mexican tried to explode away with 1300 remaining and quickly a selection was made, with only Tulett and Tobias Johannessen able to follow. They would stay together to play out the victory in the final kilometre, with the Norwegian blinking first and attacking, only for Tulett to reel him in and Del Toro to blast away for the win.
Yates came home for fourth to round out a very successful day for UAE Team Emirates atop an iconic finish in northern Italy. However, they’ll mainly be hoping they can carry this success across to Milan-San Remo on Saturday, where Tadej Pogačar will look for victory at the first Monument of 2025.
Isaac del Toro atop the rostrum Effects
Effects powered by way of FirstCycling
