Isaac del Toro returns from injury as UAE test Pogacar Tour de France support plans at Dauphiné

Del Toro is returning from the Itzulia Basque Country crash that ended his April, while Almeida is back after a two month break following a difficult Volta a Catalunya in March.

Tadej Pogačar is targeting the Tour de Suisse, while Jonas Vingegaard is recovering from the Giro d’Italia, leaving Del Toro and Almeida as UAE’s leading riders at the Dauphiné.

Del Toro, the 22-year-old Mexican who won the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico in spring before crashing out on stage 3 at Itzulia, is racing in France professionally for the first time this week.

“Here in France for the first time and yeah, looking forward,” Del Toro told CyclingPro.net. “The last part of the week will be really hard, so we are looking forward to it. Let’s see how the legs are after the training and hopefully we can be up there.”

The Mexican is set to make his Tour de France debut in July as one of Pogačar’s key climbing domestiques.

“It’s pretty great to be in this position,” he said. “Actually, I am more worried about this than anything else this year. So yeah, I’m really excited to be part of it. Now it’s on the plan, so step by step we will be ready for it.”

Asked what that Tour role will require, Del Toro pointed to focus and discipline.

“It’s being attentive, not making the smallest mistakes, and also being used to riding a little bit in a defensive style. So yeah, we will be up there always.”

Almeida has not raced since the Volta a Catalunya in March, where he struggled for form. Illness then forced him to skip the Giro d’Italia, which had been his main goal of the season.

“It’s been ups and downs,” Almeida said. “After Catalunya I kept training, but things were not really going well. So I stopped, and then three or four weeks ago I started training, and here I am. I’m feeling good, so that’s the most important thing.”

“I’m feeling good in training, things are going well. Hopefully I’ll be back at my normal level in the next month or two, I don’t know. I don’t bring any goals or anything, so I’ll just see how I feel.”

Asked whether his season plan still centres on La Vuelta a España rather than the Tour de France, the Portuguese rider was clear.

“For me, for myself, that’s what I have in my mind.”

Almeida had started the season with the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España as his main Grand Tour programme, but missing the Giro and UAE’s recent injury problems had raised the question of whether those plans might change. 

His confirmation that the Vuelta remains his focus suggests that, for now, he is still not being lined up as part of Pogačar’s Tour de France support squad.

The Critérium du Dauphiné runs from 7 to 14 June, with the queen stage coming on the final day in the Alps.