Isaac del Toro crowned champion of the GP de Montréal

Over in Canada, Isaac del Toro won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal for UAE Team Emirates-XRG on Sunday. It was a stellar display from the Mexican, with the 22-year-old getting the better of Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) in a two-up sprint to the line on Mount Royal.

Remarkably, Del Toro’s victory is UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s fifth in Montréal in the last five years, with the Emirati squad winning every edition of the race since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adding his name to a list of winners that includes Tadej Pogačar and Adam Yates, Del Toro’s victory was made all the sweeter by the man in third place on the day, his teammate Brandon McNulty. Heading into the race as the defending champion following his brilliant win in last year’s edition, McNulty was a provocateur on Sunday afternoon, and eventually powered his way to the final podium.

Split by just Seixas in second, the two UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders stood on the podium in Montréal to celebrate another fantastic team display. Del Toro’s win was the squad’s 73rd of the season, with the Emirati team sitting firmly at the top of the UCI WorldTeam standings.

Finished off by Del Toro’s individual souplesse, Sunday’s victory was earned in large part thanks to an all-round team effort by UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

Earlier in the day, teammates Felix Großschartner, Tim Wellens and Florian Vermeersch had combined to position their colleagues in prime position. This had allowed Adam Yates to nip up the road as part of a dangerous breakaway that also included Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe).

With the British climber out front, the rest of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad, including the ever-threatening Jhonatan Narváez, could sit tight and save their bullets as other teams led the pursuit.

Into the final 25km of racing, it was Healy who mounted an audacious long-range attack from the front, with the Irishman going it alone. In response, McNulty was the first UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider to make his move and bridge up to Yates. Once the defending champion had made his intentions clear, the rest of the contenders soon followed.

Thanks to the high pace that ensued, Healy was brought to heel, and it was Seixas who ultimately made the catch of the EF Education-EasyPost rider. Sensing his moment to go, the Frenchman made a stinging attack on the Côte Camillien-Houde. Already 15 laps deep, the ‘peloton’ around Seixas quickly disintegrated in pursuit.

From this pack, Del Toro burst free to bridge up to Seixas, with the pair soon holding a 20-second lead over those behind.

Over the following 10km, the two youngsters worked together to consolidate this advantage and ensure that they would be contesting the win as the road ramped up towards the finish line.

With their gap absolute, Del Toro forced Seixas to the front inside the final kilometre before getting the jump on the 19-year-old with around 200m to ride. Sprinting down in the drops, Del Toro immediately opened up a gap and would not be caught before the line. It was there that the Mexican could deploy his trademark bow celebration, as he crowned himself the winner of the 2026 GP de Montréal.

Speaking after the finish, the 22-year-old was quick to heap the praise on his teammates, with the squad celebrating a fifth Montréal victory in succession.

Del Toro: “We tried today with numbers in the final. Everybody was so strong today in our team. We had Adam in the final part in the breakaway, then Brandon went with Quinn Simmons, and I tried to follow the big moves behind. In the end, we had pretty much a great situation for us. They just put me into the place to try to fight for the victory, and I’m just super glad to have these guys around me. They support me so much and to be in this team with these guys, it is thanks to them.

“Thanks to the guys, they tried to help me a lot. It was a strange situation at the beginning of the race, we didn’t understand so much [the tactics] of the other teams. Then we decided to put a normal pace, but I didn’t feel so well. They supported me and we tried again in the final part of the race.

“I try to do my best always, but we are human beings. Not every day will be super. Today, the team committed to me so much that I wanted to do the best job possible. I didn’t feel so well, but thanks to Brandon, Adam, Felix, Florian, Jhony and Tim, it was easier to win this race.”

Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal 2026 results:

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 5:13:16

2. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) s.t

3. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +27″