Isaac del Toro wins yet again with explosive Giro dell'Emilia finish

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) stormed to victory in the 108th edition of the Giro dell’Emilia atop the San Luca climb after a selective but tactical finale. 

The in-form Mexican jumped across to a strong Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), who had launched a move early on the final ascent of the San Luca climb, before jumping around the British rider in a sprint to the line between the duo to take his 14th win of the season and his fifth in Italy within the last month.

It was an impressive display of both power and race craft from Del Toro, who had to work hard to bridge across to a strong Pidcock, who is clearly still in great shape after his maiden Grand Tour podium finish at the Vuelta a España. However, in the sprint, the Mexican had plenty of time to celebrate.

For UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the Giro dell’Emilia title stays within the team after Tadej Pogačar’s victory in a rain-soaked edition twelve months ago, and is another confirmation of the supreme talent that Del Toro possesses. 

For Pidcock, it’s the same result as twelve months ago when he finished runner-up behind the World Champion. Meanwhile, Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious) sprinted to third from the select group of riders who finished a few seconds behind.

Picnic PostNL swarmed the day’s breakaway with three out of five riders up the road from the Dutch team’s ranks in Enzo Leijnse (Picnic PostNL), Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL), and Jacob Bush (Picnic PostNL). Two Spaniards, Sinuhé Fernández (Burgos Burpellet BH) and Pablo García (Polti VisitMalta), joined the Picnic PostNL trio, but the Spanish duo would be the first to be distanced.

The Picnic PostNL trio were caught by the first of five ascents of the climb to the Madonna di San Luca sanctuary, with the peloton riding a strong tempo up the slopes. 

Mikkel Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost), fresh off a strong 12th place at the World Championships, launched a courageous attack onto the descent, using the twisty downhill to try and build an advantage over the peloton.

It was Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), the soon-to-be-retiring Polish champion, who scuppered the efforts of Honoré, reeling the Dane in on the second ascent of the San Luca climb. Majka even enjoyed a laugh and smile with teammate Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) as the Pole dished out the pain with a scintillating tempo, which continued to reduce the peloton to around 25-35 riders.

Onto the third ascent, and Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) rolled off the front, with Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) the first to bridge across. Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) calmly worked his way across the gap along with a few more riders, including Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), before Uijtdebroeks tried to attack, only to be marked by Pidcock. Across the finish line with two laps to go, the front group consisted of around 15 riders.

Uijtdebroeks was clearly feeling good as the 22-year-old Belgian attacked again on the penultimate ascent, with Martinez able to jump into the wheel. The duo built a lead of just shy of 10 seconds before Pidcock attacked from the chase group with only Roglič, Del Toro and Michael Storer (Tudor), which closed the gap to the front duo. Pidcock made another dig as the finish line approached the bell lap, and as the riders looked at each other, Storer attacked across the finish line, into the descent, though Pidcock marked the Australian.

The front sextet were cagey with one another, which allowed a group of chasers, the riders distanced on the previous climb, to return to the front, with 7km remaining. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) tried to sneak clear before the climb, but to no avail. 

Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) attacked from the back of the group, and quickly grew out a gap as the final ascent began. Behind Uijtdebroeks was the first to bridge across as the road continued to rise, before Pidcock powered clear from the field with nobody able to follow the Brit. 

Under the flamme rouge, Del Toro launched himself across to Pidcock, but the Brit made the Mexican fight hard to get on the wheel. In the end, the Mexican had too much in the sprint for Pidcock and was able to take yet another victory in 2025.