Isaac del Toro renews Mexico's legacy at the Giro d'Italia

Isaac del Toro will renew the history of Mexican cycling in the world's major tours. In his first year with UAE Team Emirates, he earned the team's vote of confidence to be a domestique in the 2025 Giro d'Italia. At 21, he appears on the team's entry list.

Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio was the last Mexican to compete in the Tour of Italy, doing so in 2007. He also competed in two more editions, winning stages. In 2001, he won stage 13, and in 2002, stage 13 and 16. Cuapio's most memorable duel was with Cadel Evans (May 25, 2002), which resulted in his victory. This time, the Mexican of the moment will face rivals such as Primoz Roglic (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe), Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), and 2024 Giro runner-up Daniel Martínez.

The potential Isaac revealed by winning the 2023 Tour de l'Avenir, becoming the first Mexican to do so in this U-23 race, placed him on a path to promotion that has adapted to the demands of the World Tour.

“The immediate plan is to be on the professional circuit as soon as possible. I'm a person who has a lot to learn, but that doesn't mean I don't have the ability to do things right the first time. I'm doing things the best I can. The team has a plan for me (...) and I know that such a large team is a huge responsibility,” Isaac said in an interview with El Economista in December 2023.

A year and a half after that response, he's back on the professional circuit, and barring injury or any other extraordinary circumstances, he'll debut in the Giro d'Italia on May 9, as a supporter for the team leaders, Juan Ayuso and Adam Yates.

Of the announced team, Igor Arrieta will be making his Grand Tour debut, while Ayuso, Baroncini and Del Toro will be making their debuts in the first Grand Tour of the season.

Isaac has been a crucial support in the mountains, working alongside Ayuso, with victories this season. The Spanish rider won the Drôme Classic after a 40-kilometer solo breakaway in Etoile-sur-Rhône (southeastern France). He achieved this with support from Isaac, who maintained the pace at the front of the peloton as they attacked the 4-kilometer climb with a 255-meter ascent. After avoiding a group crash in the peloton, the 22-year-old Spaniard made the breakaway.

'Torito' has had a first quarter of the year participating in multiple classic races in Italy, where he took a historic victory in the Milan-Turin race on March 19, in addition to completing the youth championship at the Tour of the Basque Country a few weeks ago.

Last year, Tadej Pogačar took Team Emirates-XRG's first Giro d'Italia title. The team now has 37 wins so far in 2025.

Teams and riders confirmed for the 2025 Giro d'Italia:

Teams and riders confirmed for the 2025 Giro d'Italia:

• Igor Arrieta (Spa)
• Juan Ayuso (Spa)
• Filippo Baroncini (Ita)
• Isaac del Toro (Mex)
• Rafał Majka (Pol)
• Brandon McNulty (USA)
• Jay Vine (Aus)
• Adam Yates (GB)

• Astana : Wout Poels, Nicola Conci, Lorenzo Fortunato, Max Kanter, Fausto Masnada, Anton Kuzmun, Christian Scaroni, Diego Ulissi.
• Bahrain Victorious : Antonio Tiberi, Pello Bilbao, Damiano Caruso, Afonso Eulalio, Matevz Govekar, Fran Miholjevic, Andrea Pasqualon and Edoardo Zambanini.
• Ineos Grenadiers : Egan Bernal, Thymen Arensman, Jonathan Castroviejo, Lucas Hamilton, Kim Heiduk, Brandon Rivera, Joshua Tarling, Ben Turner.
• Israel Premier Tech : Derek Gee, Simon Clarke, Marco Frigo, Jakob Fuglsang, Jan Hirt, Hugo Houle, Nick Schultz and Corbin Strong.
• Jayco-AlUla : Chris Harper, Koen Bouwman, Davide De Pretto, Paul Doublé, Felix Engelhardt, Michael Hepburn, Lucas Plapp, Filippo Zana.
• Movistar Team : Einer Rubio, Nairo Quintana, Jefferson Cepeda, Jon Barrenetxea, Davide Formolo, Orluis Aular, Albert Torres, Lorenzo Milesi.
• Q36.5 : Tom Pidcock, Xabier Mikel Azparren, Mark Donovan, Damien Howson, Emils Liepins, Matteo Moschetti, Milan Vader and Nick Zukowsky.
• Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe : Primoz Roglic, Giovanni Aleotti, Nico Denz, Jai Hindley, Daniel Martínez, Gianni Moscon, Jan Tratnik.
• Tudor : Michael Storer, Marco Brenner, Alexander Krieger, Rick Pluimers, Florian Stork, Yannis Voisard, Larry Warbasse, Maikel Zijlaard.