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Isaac Del Toro got his professional career off to a glittering start with 3rd place podium and the white jersey as best young rider at the Santos Tour Down Under.
The 20 year old put on an attacking display on the final stage finishing third in the sprint behind Stevie Williams (Israel Premier Tech) who took the stage and the overall victory.
The general classification battle kicked-off in the final two kilometres after the the peloton caught the final breakaway riders on the lower slopes of Mt Lofty. It was at this point Del Toro attacked which strung out the select group and briefly caught Williams out of position.
Williams would fight back and narrowly take the sprint ahead of Jhonathan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Del Toro, who goes home with a stage win after victory on stage 2.
Antonio Morgado was active throughout the day, winning the prize for most combative rider having infiltrated a sizeable breakaway with 110km to go, building up 3 minutes and just being swept up on the lower slopes of the climb. The race also serves as the first outing for the young Portuguese talent who will take confidence from the performance.
Unfortunately there was a ten rider crash in the final kilometres with several UAE Team Emirates involved though all escaped with minor abrasions.
Del Toro: “The plan was to start the climb in front and try to attack on the hard section and gain seconds. With the heat of the race I didn’t even know my teammates had crashed behind and only heard about it on the finish line. I was sad for them , particularly as Finn was high up on GC. It wasn’t the ideal situation but sometimes it can happen.
I tried my best to go for the stage today. In the final straight I think I could have probably timed it a bit better in the sprint, but I guess that comes with experience. I look forward to keep learning and progressing.I’m happy with my performance here, I enjoyed it a lot.”
Stage 6 results
1.Stephen Williams (Israel Premier Tech) 3:05:26
2.Jhonathan Narvaez (Ineos-Grenadiers) s.t
3.Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) s.t
Final General Classification
1.Stephen Williams (Israel Premier Tech) 19:13:34
2.Jhonathan Narvaez (Ineos-Grenadiers) +9”
3.Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) +11”
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