Isaac del Toro admitted he had “mixed feelings” after beating his friend and Tirreno-Adriatico rival Giulio Pelizzari in the Italian’s hometown of Camerino.
The Mexican stamped his authority on this year’s edition of Tirreno-Adriatico with his first stage victory of the race.
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Speaking to TNT Sport at the finish Del Toro said: “We’ve been quite close to this but today was very nice. I’m super happy. But also I have mixed feelings. It’s pretty strange. This is for the guys and the staff really.”
The peloton had been reduced to 24 riders as it came into the bottom of the final climb, having just mopped up the remains of the day’s break.
He said: “I wasn’t sure I could bring it back because it’s super hard and he’s super strong. So we couldn’t let him go far away. It was super tough to bring him back.”
The UAE Emirates-XRG rider said that he would have to be “attentive” on the race’s final sprint stage to secure the blue jersey, which he now holds by a margin of 0.42, tomorrow.
Result
Tirreno-Adriatico, Stage 6: San Severino Marche > Camerino (188km)
1. Isaac del Toro (Mex), UAE Team Emirates – XRG, in 4:46:50
2. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor), Uno-X Mobility, +03s
3. Matteo Jorgenson (USA), Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
4. Giulio Pelizzari (Ita), Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +09s
5. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +11s
6. Santiago Buitrago (Col), Bahrain Victorious, at same time
7. Ben Healy (Ire), EF Education-EasyPost, +21s
8. Magnus Sheffield (USA), Ineos Grenadiers, +25s
9. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +27s
10. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Jayco AlUla, +32s
General Classification
1. Isaac del Toro (Mex), UAE Team Emirates – XRG, in 24:57:20
2. Giulio Pelizzari (Ita), Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +42s
3. Matteo Jorgenson (USA), Visma-Lease a Bike, +43s
4. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor), Uno-X Mobility, +1:15
5. Primož Roglič (Slo), Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +1:21s
6. Giulio Ciccone (Ita), Lidl-Trek, +1:26
7. Santiago Buitrago (Col), Bahrain Victorious, +1:49
8. Ben Healy (Ire), EF Education-EasyPost, +1:55
9. Magnus Sheffield (USA), Ineos Grenadiers, +2:02
10. Alessandro Pinarello (Ita) NSN Cycling, +2:06
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