Mexican Isaac del Toro Wins Stage Two of Tour de France with Pogacar's Support

Isaac del Toro, the Mexican cyclist, claimed his first Tour de France stage victory on July 5, 2026, by winning the second stage that finished with a climb in Barcelona. Del Toro played a crucial role in the final ascent to Montjuïc, successfully closing down an attack by Matthias Skjelmose on the 1.6 km climb with a 9.3% gradient. In the final meters, del Toro surged ahead to cross the finish line first, while his teammate and Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar finished second, signaling for del Toro to take the win. Remco Evenepoel completed the podium in third place.

The stage started in Tarragona and covered 169 kilometers. Jonas Vingegaard, who finished fourth in the stage, retained the yellow jersey with a slim six-second lead over Pogačar, who reduced the gap thanks to bonus seconds. Evenepoel is third overall, 15 seconds behind the leader, while del Toro and Juan Ayuso are fourth and fifth, respectively, both more than 16 seconds behind.

The third stage will take the riders out of Spain, covering 196 kilometers from Granollers to Las Angles. This mountainous stage includes 3,850 cumulative meters of climbing, featuring three category 3 climbs and one category 1 climb at Col de Tosa. The finish is a 1.7 km climb at a 6.5% gradient, also category 3. It is expected that the favorites might allow a large breakaway group, potentially producing the next race leader.