Isaac del Toro rides into the White Jersey at the Tour de France

On stage 15 of the Tour de France, Isaac del Toro moved his way up to third overall for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with the Mexican taking control of the young rider’s classification.

Overtaking Paul Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM in the race for the final podium, Del Toro takes the White Jersey into the race’s final rest day. Sunday’s stage offered an exhibition in teamwork for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with the young Mexican supported by teammate and race leader, Tadej Pogačar, on the final climb to the line.

Returning to the Plateau de Solaison, the site of Del Toro’s recent stage victory and overall triumph at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, UAE Team Emirates-XRG hatched a plan to vault the Mexican up the general classification and force his White Jersey rivals under pressure.

Before that could come about, however, the Tour de France was dealt a cruel blow with the abandonment of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). The two-time winner suffered a crash on a right-hand bend and was forced to leave the race early. After the finish, his long-time opponent turned friend, Pogačar, offered a word of support for the departing Dane.

Pogačar: “It is really, really sad to see that Jonas is out. Since 2021, we have been battling it out for the victories. Maybe at the beginning we didn’t have the best relationship, but in the last two years, we became good rivals with respect as competitors. But I think we also became friends, and the Tour will not be the same without him.

In regard to the racing, UAE Team Emirates-XRG had been in a strong position from the breakaway formation, with Adam Yates placing himself up the road for the Emirati squad. The British climber followed the wheels of men in form like Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), with the front group soon building an advantage of almost three minutes.

For a while, it looked as though Visma-Lease a Bike would set things up for a showdown between the GC favourites, but their hopes were brought to an untimely end with the departure of Vingegaard. In their place, Bahrain Victorious and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe took up the pace-setting at the front of the peloton, and the breakaway hit the slopes of the final climb, the Plateau do Solaison (11.3km at 9%), with a gap of less than two minutes.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG made their intentions clear with 8km to ride, as Pogačar roared to the front of the peloton with the Yellow Jersey on his back. The race leader immediately began to drive a hard pace, and it was evident the Slovenian was working for his young teammate Del Toro, in a remarkable show of selflessness.

Within a few hundred metres, only Del Toro and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) remained on Pogačar’s wheel, with Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and more put into difficulty. In terms of the fight for the White Jersey, the absence of Ayuso and Seixas was good news for Del Toro.

From here to the summit of the climb, the trio of Pogačar, Del Toro and Evenepoel swept aside all who had been in front of them. Between 5.5km to go and 4.5km to go, Yates played a brilliant supporting role for UAE Team Emirates-XRG and delivered a great turn of pace after dropping back from the break.

Into the final kilometre, Del Toro made two searing accelerations in a bid to drop an impressive Evenepoel, but neither was able to dislodge the Belgian. As the finish line came into sight, the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider sprinted for the line and eventually claimed his first Tour de France road stage victory.

Pogačar immediately followed Evenepoel across the finish, before Del Toro came home in third place. His efforts had been enough to move him up to third overall, with the Mexican now holding a 25-second gap over the young sensation, Seixas. Pogačar, meanwhile, holds a five-minute lead over Evenepoel, who has moved up to second overall with the withdrawal of Vingegaard.

Speaking after the finish, Pogačar was more than satisfied with the team’s efforts on stage 15. The Slovenian heads into Monday’s rest day with a commanding lead in the Yellow Jersey, but is wary to avoid complacency ahead of the final week.

Pogačar: “It helped us a lot that in the first two hours, the break didn’t form, so the first two hours, it was the perfect day. Then, Visma decided to go for the stage, and it was good that we had Adam in the front. Then we could go for the stage. When Adam was with Quinn Simmons – chapeau to him, he was super solid today – we tried with Isaac, and it is his climb. But he also had a little bit of pain, I think, from the crash, and lost a little bit of confidence in the final. But anyway, I think it was a good day for Isaac today, and we can be happy that he is in the White Jersey and third on GC.”

“Chapeau to Remco, today I think on Solaison it is like a 30-minute test, and we did I think one of the best numbers. I think Remco sometimes needs a bit of a morale boost, and today he showed he is flying. He is a rocket, and he is going to be a man to watch next week.”

Tour de France 2026 stage 15 results:

1. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) 4:23:09

2. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +6″

9 . Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2:00

Tour de France 2026 general classification after stage 15:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 55:41:31

2. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +5:00

3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +5:58