UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Isaac del Toro claims fifth win
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider went on the attack alone and ensured he would not be caught before the finish, becoming only the second-ever winner of this young Spanish one-day semi-Classic.
Del Toro has now moved to 10 career victories, with his exploits at the Tour of Austria yielding four wins alone. The Mexican was the breakout star of this year's Giro d'Italia, and showed every bit of his class to win in Spain on Monday afternoon.
Over a rolling parcours in Tarragona, Del Toro watched his teammates set a searing pace under the midday sun, with the peloton splintering under both the heat and pressure. One by one, his competitors dropped from the pack, and Del Toro began to sense an opportunity to grab the race by the scruff of its neck.
That moment came on the Alt de Paüls. With the group whittled down to only the strongest riders, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider stomped on the pedals and powered his way off the front of the race. As the gradient rose, so too did the pressure, and for a short while, Natnael Tesfatsion of Movistar proved the only man able to follow Del Toro's wheel.
In just two weeks, UAE Team Emirates-XRG's breakout star of the season has doubled his career victory tally, and if Monday's display is anything to go by, Del Toro is set for another exciting block of racing over the coming weeks.
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