Col du Grand Colombier (France) (AFP) – Mexican Isaac del Toro won Saturday's seventh stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes to close in on overall leader Luke Tuckwell as pre-race favourite Paul Seixas lost time due to a crash.
Issued on: 13/06/2026 - 16:34Modified: 13/06/2026 - 17:02
3 min Reading time
Del Toro timed his move to perfection on the final climb of the 133km stage from La Bridoire to Grand Colombier, passing Spaniard Juan Ayuso with just 1.5km to ride.Ayuso had been the first to attack on the punishing Grand Colombier climb to the finish, with around 7km to ride after the remnants of the day's breakaway were caught just before that final ascent.But Del Toro, 22, kept him in his sights despite falling back a maximum of 25 seconds at one point, and when he made his surge for victory, Ayuso could not respond.It was a timely return to form for Del Toro, who won the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico earlier in the year before he crashed out of the Tour of the Basque Country in April."It's just crazy to be in this position," said Del Toro.
Disappointed Spaniard Juan Ayuso said he 'threw away the win' by attacking too early © Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
