Isaac del Toro, a 22-year-old cyclist from Ensenada, Baja California, won Stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de France on July 5, becoming the first Mexican to claim a Tour stage victory in 36 years. The last Mexican rider to accomplish the feat was Monterrey native Raúl Alcalá, who won stages in 1989 and 1990.
Del Toro crossed the finish line at Montjuïc in Barcelona after a 168.5-kilometer coastal stage from Tarragona, Spain. He completed the ride in 3 hours, 40 minutes, and 1 second. His UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate and four-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia finished just behind him, having eased up in the final meters to let his young teammate take the win.
A Gift From Pogačar on the Final Climb
The decisive moment came on the short, steep climb to the Montjuïc finish. Del Toro chased down an attack by Lidl-Trek’s Mattias Skjelmose with under two kilometers remaining, and Pogačar followed every move from behind. Pogačar could have taken the win himself and cut overall leader Jonas Vingegaard’s advantage to just two seconds, but instead dropped back to hand Del Toro the victory.
The two teammates embraced at the finish. “This means everything to me,” Del Toro said. “I’m privileged to be on this team, which has trusted me from the very beginning. This is the fruit of the entire team’s work.”
Third in the World at 22
The Ensenada native currently ranks third in the UCI world standings, behind only Pogačar and Denmark’s Vingegaard. Last year, he won 16 races across tour stages and one-day events, vaulting from 57th to third in the global rankings. He entered the 2026 Tour having already won three stage races this season.
After Stage 2, del Toro sat fourth in the overall general classification, 16 seconds behind Vingegaard. Pogačar was six seconds back and Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel trailed by 15 seconds. The 21-stage race is scheduled to end July 26 in Paris.
National Pride for Baja California
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum congratulated del Toro on social media following his victory. No Mexican has ever won the Tour de France overall. Alcalá’s ninth-place finish in 1987 remains the best general classification result by a Mexican rider.
Del Toro’s debut Tour continued on Stage 3, where he finished 10th and held his fourth-place overall standing. That stage ran from Granollers, Spain, to Les Angles, France, with del Toro finishing 51 seconds behind Pogačar.
This story was first reported by Mexico News Daily.