The 59th edition of the Tour de l’Avenir -one of the most important youth races in the world- ended after eight days and with a long-awaited news for Latin America: the victory in the individual general classification for the Mexican Isaac Del Toro, first rider of that nation that wins the prestigious contest.
The eighth fraction, which took the group from Val-Cenis to Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise after 99.6 kilometres, was won by the Italian Giulio Pallizzari with 2:50:22, the same time as the Mexican, who also left his country as the second, behind Colombia with six crowns, which reaches a scepter in this fair.
But Del Toro (22:03:24) did not only dominate in the general classification, he also finished leading the points classification and the mountains, becoming a cyclist to watch for the coming seasons.
The young Latin American climber managed to pull away from the leader of the general classification, the American Matthew Riccitello on the Col de l’Iseran, who collapsed on the final climb to Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise and lost almost three minutes to del Toro.
The podium was completed by the Italians Giulio Pellizzari and Davide Piganzoli. The North American Matthew Riccitello left the places of honor and finished fourth, more than a minute after giving up 2:46 in the final stage. Colombian Édgar Ándres Pinzón finished in the top 10.
On the program was a mountain stage of less than 100 kilometers with the extremely difficult Col de l’Iseran (with the summit at 2,770 meters of altitude) at the beginning of the day. Then followed a long descent and several hills to the finish with a demanding climb to Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise.
The race exploded at the Col de l’Iseran, where Mexican revelation Isaac Del Toro unleashed the demons on him just below the crest. The American leader Riccitello, who had to lead the chase himself, lost a lot of strength on the finish and ended up relinquishing the lead.
Del Toro succeeded Belgian Cian Uijtdebroeks, winner last year, in a test won by Colombians Alfonso Flórez (1980), Martín Ramírez (1985), Nairo Quintana (2010), Esteban Chaves (2011). , Miguel Ángel López (2014) and Egan Bernal (2017).
Fuente: Agencias de Noticias y Revista Mundo Ciclístico