UAE moved early to beat 11 teams to Isaac del Toro’s signature

The Mexican’s triumph at the 2023 Tour de l’Avenir transformed him almost overnight. One WorldTour team contacted him on the evening of his victory, despite having never spoken to him before. By the time the rush had settled, Del Toro had received eleven proposals.

UAE Team Emirates did not need to make an introduction.

Joxean Matxin had already spent two years following Del Toro, discussing his career and helping him find a route into professional cycling.

“Our first contact was in 2021,” Matxin told AS. “I speak to a lot of riders about their performance numbers, how they think and what they want. Nothing came of it at the time, but I did not forget his name.”

Del Toro was competing far from the usual European development system. The numbers were interesting, but it was a decision away from road racing that convinced Matxin there was more behind them.

During the winter, Del Toro left Mexico to race cyclocross in Belgium. It meant competing in unfamiliar conditions, in a discipline dominated by riders who had grown up with mud, cold and technical courses.

“For me, it showed two things: courage and character,” Matxin said. “Someone who wants to compete in places like that is showing bravery.”

Matxin kept in contact, although there was no obvious place for Del Toro at UAE at that stage. The Mexican was racing for Monex, a modest San Marino team, and had no agent guiding the next step of his career.

Before the 2023 Sibiu Tour, Del Toro asked Matxin whether they could speak by telephone. Matxin was making a long car journey and agreed. The conversation continued for hours.

They discussed his development, his racing programme and the level he would need to reach before moving into the WorldTour. Matxin also began making calls on his behalf.

The initial plan was not to bring him directly to UAE.

Matxin believed Del Toro would benefit from spending time with a professional team at a lower level. He contacted Caja Rural director Juanma Hernández and proposed a two year spell in Spain, after which UAE could sign him if his development continued.

“I told him I had a Mexican rider I liked very much,” Matxin said. “He had character, strong numbers and a lot of room for progression.”

The discussions reached an advanced stage. Del Toro, Matxin and Caja Rural were all involved, but several final details remained unresolved and the transfer collapsed.

Del Toro stayed with Monex.

That failed move left him in a less established environment, but it also kept him available when his breakthrough arrived.

After finishing third at the Giro della Valle d’Aosta, Del Toro went to the Tour de l’Avenir, the leading stage race for under 23 riders. Matxin was still advising him and suggested a particular way of approaching the decisive stages.

“I told him to make the difference on the moderately difficult sections, at three or four per cent, rather than waiting for the steepest climbs,” he said.

Del Toro followed the plan and won the general classification. “At the end of the race, I told him: ‘Now you are ready. You have WorldTour level.’”

The wider peloton had reached the same conclusion.

“The same night he won, there was an offer from a WorldTour team in his inbox,” Matxin said. “They had never spoken to him before. During those days, he received eleven proposals in total.”

There was little doubt about his preferred destination. “His dream was to race for UAE,” Matxin said. “We had a place available, and that is the story of Isaac.”

Del Toro joined UAE in 2024 and made an immediate impact, winning a stage at the Tour Down Under in his first race for the team before taking a stage and the overall title at the Vuelta Asturias.

His breakthrough season came in 2025, when he claimed 18 victories. He won Milano Torino, finished second at the Giro d’Italia after spending 11 days in the pink jersey and took stage 17 in Bormio. Later that year, he won the Tour of Austria, the Vuelta a Burgos, seven Italian one day races and both Mexican national titles.

Del Toro carried that form into 2026. He won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, before claiming stage two of the Tour de France in Montjuïc, with Tadej Pogačar handing his teammate the opportunity to take the victory.

At 22, Del Toro is no longer simply one of cycling’s brightest prospects. He had become a Grand Tour podium finisher, a Tour stage winner and one of the most prolific riders in the peloton. 

“He is the rider who has exceeded expectations more than any other during my career,” Matxin said. “And he still has an incredible margin for progression.”