Del Toro soars in pink jersey

Mexican went from super-domestique to Giro contender in career-defining second week

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The city of Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico, is not a small place - its population is a little under 300,000 - but it is fair to say it has had little international acclaim. It is a popular tourist attraction, particularly for Americans from just across the border in California, and gave its name to a Neil Diamond song, but it's not a place that is known, especially in Europe.

That could change this week, thanks to the meteoric rise of Isaac del Toro, an Ensenada native. The 21-year-old, riding for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, has gone from being one of Juan Ayuso's super-domestiques in a team full of them, to being the leading contender for the overall win at the Giro d'Italia. After seizing the pink jersey in Siena ahead of the first rest day, the Mexican has now spent a week in control of the general classification, as other contenders have fallen away. He now has the full support of his UAE team.

“Our idea, our goal, is for the team to ride compact around our leader, Isaac,” Fabio Baldato, the team’s DS, said.