Isaac del Toro Romero wins second stage of Tour Down Under, leads overall
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Isaac del Toro Romero of Mexico claimed his first professional win Wednesday when he took out the second stage of the Tour Down Under and with it first place on general classification.
The 20-year-old del Toro last year won the Tour del’Avenir, the amateur version of the Tour de France. He is competing in his first World Tour event for UAE Team Emirates.
Del Toro made an audacious lone break with just over a kilometer to go, coming from well back in the bunch, sweeping past the leaders and showing power to build a lead a more than 100 meters.
He held on comfortably to win the 141.6 kilometer (88 mile) stage from Norwood to Lobethal from New Zealand’s Corbin Strong and Briton Stephen Williams, both from Israel Premier Tech.
“It’s crazy,” del Toro said. “Last year was pretty crazy but this one has started very well.”
After two of six stages, Del Toro leads the overall classification by two seconds from Strong with Biniam Girmay of Eritrea and Williams a further five seconds back.
Jardi Christiaan Van Der Lee of the Netherlands and Luke Burns made an early breakaway Wednesday and led for most of the stage. They finally were brought back to the peloton with about 20 kilometers (12 miles) to go.
Luke Plapp went away with Jhonatan Navaez less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the finish, just as they crested the final climb. That created some panic and broke up the peloton.
The American road champion Quinn Simmons and Bastien Tronchon then gained a small break on the bunch and held out until about a kilometer from the finish. Just as they came back, del Toro made his winning attack, catching the leaders by surprise.
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