Isaac del Toro Makes History at the 2026 Tour de France: Podium, White Jersey, and How Tadej Pogačar Helped a Teammate's Dream

White jersey dominance: After briefly losing the white jersey to Paul Seixas, del Toro reclaimed it on Stage 6 with a third-place finish behind Pogačar in the Pyrenees . He held it through Stage 21, finishing ahead of Seixas by 25 seconds in the final standings .

Historic third place overall: Del Toro entered the top three on Stage 15, overtaking Seixas in the general classification . On Stage 20, with just 24 seconds separating him from the Frenchman, del Toro produced one of his strongest rides of the race to put third place beyond Seixas's reach .

First Mexican podium finisher: No Mexican rider had ever finished on the final Tour de France podium before. Del Toro's third place is the greatest result by a Mexican cyclist in the history of the sport's most prestigious race .

How Tadej Pogačar helped secure the result

Pogačar's role went far beyond being a team leader who won his fifth yellow jersey. He actively shaped the race to protect his young teammate's podium.

Stage 2 — The gifted win in Barcelona: On the steep uphill finish at Montjuïc, del Toro launched his attack, and Pogačar — rather than passing him — sat up, looked back to control Remco Evenepoel, and let the Mexican cross first. The Tour de France's official site called it a "gift" . Del Toro later said he thought he was helping Pogačar win; instead, the four-time champion guided him to his first Tour stage victory .

Stage 20 — The 60-km pull: With del Toro's third place and white jersey under serious threat from Paul Seixas (just 24 seconds back), Pogačar sacrificed his own chance of winning the stage. He pulled on the front for more than 60 kilometers to set a brutal pace that protected his teammate . Both riders dropped the "bull" salute as they crossed the finish line together . Analysts described it as one of the most selfless rides by a yellow-jersey leader in modern Tour history .

Alpe d'Huez — Gapping the rival: On the stage to Alpe d'Huez, Pogačar's devastating pace helped del Toro gap Paul Seixas near the line, tightening the Mexican's grip on third place .

Constant mentorship through illness: Del Toro battled illness during the final week, and Pogačar kept morale high. "Tadej has shown how good a friend he is," del Toro said. "We kept motivating each other" through the hardest days .

Reuters noted that Pogačar found genuine joy in both winning the yellow jersey and helping his teammate achieve history — a contrast to the grumpy rider of previous years .

The numbers that mattered

• Final GC: Pogačar (1st), Evenepoel (2nd at +5:00), del Toro (3rd at +5:58), Seixas (4th at +6:23) .
• White jersey: Del Toro beat Seixas by 25 seconds in the youth classification .
• Stage 2 gap: Del Toro and Pogačar finished 1-2 on the stage, both ahead of Evenepoel and Vingegaard .
• Stage 20 gap: Del Toro started 24 seconds ahead of Seixas and finished the stage still in third, with the gap now safe .

What it means for Mexican cycling

Del Toro's result is a generational breakthrough. The only other Mexican to win a Tour stage was Raúl Alcalá, whose last victory came in 1990 . No Mexican had ever finished in the top three of the general classification. Del Toro won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2023 (the U23 equivalent of the Tour, which Pogačar also won in 2018), and he already had a second-place Giro d'Italia finish in 2025 . Now he has a Tour de France podium to his name at age 22 — and perhaps the most powerful teammate in the world willing to pull for him.

Sources

The factual claims in this article are sourced from race results published by the Tour de France official site, Reuters, BBC Sport, USA Today, Cyclingnews, and multiple independent cycling outlets covering the 2026 Tour de France.