'Mixed feelings' for Del Toro after beating friend Pellizzari in hometown finale

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) delivered a clinical performance in the finale of the all-important stage 6 at Tirreno-Adriatico, taking both the day's honours and extending his lead in the GC with one stage remaining. 

With the final leg to San Benedetto del Tronto set to be one for the sprinters, the GC is all but sealed as long as the Mexican avoids incident or accident during the run-in on Sunday. 

Del Toro was pleased to move one step closer to winning his second WorldTour stage race of 2026 after the UAE Tour in February. He admitted, however, that he had mixed feelings about taking the stage win from Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in his home town of Camerino.

“It’s like mixed feelings, but yeah, I’m happy and proud of the job the guys did,” Del Toro said in his post-race interview. 

Pellizzari, who was the closest threat to Del Toro’s race lead ahead of the stage, tried multiple attacks in the finale, and eventually opened up a gap on the blue jersey group with around a kilometre to go. 

The Italian was clearly pumped up, inciting his home crowds to cheer louder as he caught Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and passed him with 800 metres to go. 

However, Del Toro was able to manage the threat of Pellizzari and reeled him in a few hundred metres later. He was then the only rider able to respond to Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a  Bike), who launched a counterattack of his own. 

Del Toro was asked if he thought he could close the gap to Pellizzari after the Italian’s attack. 

“Not sure, because it was super hard and I know he’s super strong, so I just wanted to keep in mind that we can’t let him go super far away,” he said. “So I just tried to pull him back, but it was super, super tough.”

Winning a stage en route to winning a GC is always sweeter, and Del Toro had already come close, having finished second on stage 2 and again on stage 5. The Mexican champion dedicated the victory to the work of his teammates and staff. 

“I'm super happy, but I also have mixed feelings. It's just pretty strange, but this is just for the guys and the staff. They did all the job, and I'm super proud to be here,” said Del Toro. 

Despite his handsome advantage of 42 seconds over Pellizzari and 43 over Jorgenson, Del Toro knows the job isn’t done yet and has his eyes set on making it around the final stage safely before beginning the celebrations.

“In the last few years I have been here, it was like this, so let’s see how it is, but I want to be attentive and secure the job,” said Del Toro.

The 22-year-old is on the verge of becoming the first Mexican winner of Tirreno-Adriatico, beating Raúl Alcalá’s best result of second in 1992. He is also set to become the fifth youngest winner of the race, just ahead of Tadej Pogačar and Juan Ayuso, who will sixth and seventh in that list.