Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won the final stage at Plateau de Solaison on Sunday and took the overall classification at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, finishing 54 seconds ahead of Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and 1:17 clear of Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek). It was Del Toro's first yellow jersey as a professional and the first overall victory for a Mexican rider in the race's history.
The 22-year-old attacked on the final climb after seeing Pablo Torres push the pace early, then held his advantage over the closing six kilometres despite a moment of concern when his sport director told him how far remained. Speaking to Cycling Pro Net after the stage, Del Toro was direct about his intentions: "I don't want to show nothing. I just want to try to win the GC and that's it."
Asked whether the performance represented his best climbing form, Del Toro said: "I think it's still not." He was cautious about what that meant for his Tour de France debut, 20 days away. "I don't want to push super hard in my mind and I just want to go a little bit more with the flow and see how the things are for the Tour de France," he said. When pressed on whether the result positioned him for overall leadership in July, a question likely meant in jest, he shut it down: "No, no, no. Nothing about this."
Stage 8 Results
Jun 14
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Isaac DEL TORO | UADUAE Team Emirates-XRG | 3:35:07 |
| 🥈 | Juan AYUSO | LTKLidl-Trek | +1:00 |
| 🥉 | Tobias Halland JOHANNESSEN | UXMUno-X Mobility | +1:02 |
| 4 | Mattias SKJELMOSE | LTKLidl-Trek | +1:31 |
| 5 | Cristian RODRÍGUEZ | ASTXDS Astana Team | +1:31 |
| 6 | Carlos RODRÍGUEZ | IGDNetcompany INEOS Cycling Team | +1:36 |
| 7 | Maxim VAN GILS | RBHRed Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | +1:43 |
| 8 | Luke TUCKWELL | RBHRed Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | +1:43 |
| 9 | Cian UIJTDEBROEKS | MOVMovistar Team | +1:43 |
| 10 | Matteo JORGENSON | TVLTeam Visma | Lease a Bike | +1:43 |
| 11 | George BENNETT | NSNNSN Cycling Team | +2:49 |
| 12 | Ramses DEBRUYNE | APTAlpecin-Premier Tech | +3:01 |
| 13 | Jan CASTELLÓN | CJRCaja Rural-Seguros RGA | +3:18 |
| 14 | Valentin PARET-PEINTRE | SOQSoudal Quick-Step | +3:44 |
| 15 | José Félix PARRA | CJRCaja Rural-Seguros RGA | +4:12 |
| 16 | Guillaume MARTIN-GUYONNET | GFCGroupama-FDJ United | +4:12 |
| 17 | Lars CRAPS | LINLotto-Intermarché | +4:34 |
| 18 | Bruno ARMIRAIL | TVLTeam Visma | Lease a Bike | +4:34 |
| 19 | Clément BERTHET | GFCGroupama-FDJ United | +4:44 |
| 20 | Ben TULETT | TVLTeam Visma | Lease a Bike | +4:44 |
| 21 | Jordan JEGAT | TENTeam TotalEnergies | +5:15 |
| 22 | Raúl GARCÍA | MOVMovistar Team | +5:40 |
| 23 | Kevin VERMAERKE | UADUAE Team Emirates-XRG | +6:10 |
| 24 | Lennart JASCH | TUDTudor Pro Cycling Team | +6:14 |
| 25 | Robbe DHONDT | DSMTeam Picnic PostNL | +6:14 |
| 26 | Alex BAUDIN | EFEEF Education-EasyPost | +6:20 |
| 27 | Georg STEINHAUSER | EFEEF Education-EasyPost | +6:20 |
| 28 | Felix ENGELHARDT | JAYTeam Jayco-AlUla | +6:32 |
| 29 | Clément BRAZ AFONSO | GFCGroupama-FDJ United | +6:43 |
| 30 | Nicolas PRODHOMME | DATDecathlon CMA CGM Team | +7:02 |
What the podium said about July
Tuckwell, 21, had entered the final stage near the top of the general classification and rode to protect his position as Del Toro went clear. "I knew I had a minute to use," he said. "I wasn't too concerned about keeping the lead because I knew Isaac was so strong, so I was just trying to focus on trying to get the best GC result I could. To only lose one spot, man, that's pretty incredible."
The Australian credited teammate Maxim Van Gils for keeping him in contention and described his progress as simple and free of structured altitude blocks. "I keep improving race on race without doing anything special," Tuckwell said. "No altitude camps, just being at home in a good mental space. And I think that's making the difference."
Ayuso, who moved up to third after distancing Matteo Jorgenson on the final stage, was emphatic about his Lidl-Trek squad's collective strength. He described teammates getting dropped early in a hard opening before fighting back to work for him on the climbs. "I think we were the strongest team," he said. "We controlled everything." On Del Toro's attack, he was blunt: "He was on another level today and we have to just accept it."
Ayuso framed the week as a building block. "Preparation was a bit more difficult than what I would have hoped for," he said. "Finishing on the podium and feeling like every day I improved and every day I was getting better, I'm happy and I hope I can recover well from this and be ready for next month."
Further down the classification, Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar Team) described a week disrupted by illness, first lung symptoms and flu, then stomach problems, before recovering to race well on the final two stages. "I think for now I am where I want to be and now it's about making the small steps towards the tour," he said, adding that his team was "super strong around me."
Carlos Rodríguez (Netcompany Ineos), whose squad had lost riders to crashes earlier in the week, said the final day was "all about the attitude" and that his body was "finally starting to respond." He said the team would keep working to arrive at the Tour "in the best shape possible."
The Tour de France begins on July 4 in Barcelona.
Cover image credit: Gaetan Flamme
