It was a 1-2 victory for UAE Team Emirates-XRG today as Isaac del Toro and Tadej Pogacar ruled the final uphill in Montjuïc to achieve a dominant finish at the end of stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de France 2026.
But it was Del Toro crossing the line first. After nearly winning the 2025 Giro d’Italia, the young Mexican continues to add WorldTour wins to his palmeres. And now, with a Tour de France stage win, he joins an elite club. Del Toro is the second Mexican stage winner in the history of the Tour after Raul Alcala (2 stages in 1989, 1990).
UAE Emirates-XRG controlled the second half of the day, starting in Tarragona and heading to a demanding circuit in Barcelona. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) attacked inside the last two kilometres but Del Toro flew past him, with Pogacar on his wheel. Pogacar looked back to control Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), third on the day, and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who retains the Maillot Jaune after finishing fourth. Del Toro is the second Mexican stage winner in the history of the Tour after Raul Alcala (2 stages in 1989, 1990). It’s the first time UAE Emirates-XRG claim the first two places on the stage.
After the shortened opening team time trial, the peloton faced a 168.5 km explosive stage starting in Tarragona, now the southernmost stage town in the history of the event. The route featured 2,500 metres of elevation, mostly packed in the second half of the stage and especially on the final 12.2 km circuit. There, the riders battled it out with three ascents of the Côte du château de Montjuïc (1.6km at 9.3%).
First Attacks
Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché) attacked as soon as the flag dropped. After a series of attacks and counter-attacks, Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla) initiated the right move at km 4 and was immediately followed by Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL). Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) bridged the gap a couple of kilometres later to make it a three-man breakaway.
Veistroffer made another go but gave up after chasing for 15 km. The resulting three man break never enjoyed more than a four minute advantage, with the Pinarello-Q36.5 taking the reins of the bunch to control the gap early on.
Only trailing by 1’12” in the overall standings, Molenaar virtually took the Maillot Jaune. He also dominated the intermediate sprint in Viladecans (km 85.6), where Biniam Girmay (NSN) showed his speed to get the better of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech). Molenaar stayed focused on the polka-dot jersey, conquering the first categorised summit of the Tour 2026, in Begues (km 94.2, cat. 2).
UAE Emirates-XRG Up The Ante
After the summit, only two riders remained at the front: Molenaar and Engelhardt with a scant 20 second lead. The gap momentarily opened back up to 45 seconds but they were reeled in with 32 kilometres to go, just before entering the final circuit.
Brandon McNulty (UAE Emirates-XRG) set a brutal pace to thin out the peloton, down to some 30 riders as they enter the final two laps. Pogacar’s American teammate drove the bunch until the bottom of the final ascent of the day.
Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Adam Yates (UAE Emirates-XRG) upped the ante, but the main contenders stayed together until the summit, despite a couple of late attacks by Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Richard Carapaz (EF Edcuation-EasyPost). Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) also tries his luck on the downhill, inside the last two kilometres.
Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) controlled the Dane’s move and flew past him as they tackled the final 700 metres, uphill. In his wake, Pogacar controls their rivals and celebrates alongside his teammate, only the second Mexican stage winner in the Tour after Raul Alcala.
Del Toro could scarcely believe what had happened, but Pogačar knew the significance of the moment. The world champion lifted his young teammate into the air, and the onlooking crowd roared in appreciation. It was a moment fitting of the sport’s biggest stage, and in Del Toro and Pogačar, the Tour de France has perhaps the best entertainers working side by side. Their efforts will ensure stage 2 of this year’s race lives long in the memory.
Heading into stage 3, Pogačar remains second overall, but cuts his deficit to Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) to just six seconds. Del Toro, meanwhile, has moved up to fourth overall, and now leads the young rider classification.
Speaking after the finish, Del Toro could not contain a smile. It was the biggest moment of his career to date.
Del Toro: “It means everything. I said before, I am a really privileged guy to be here. You cannot believe how much we work as a team to be here. I had plenty of confidence from the whole team, really this is the work of everybody. My family, my friends when I grow up… I cannot believe what I just did.
“This is just insane. I really appreciate being in the same team as Tadej, being in the best team in the world. It gives me all of the emotions, and you cannot believe now how it feels for me, and especially for my country. Everything that is going on is just insane, really, just thank you to my teammates.
“We were going super fast [in the final kilometre], we predicted that this could happen. In the top of the climb, I was not able to be on the top position, so then I was able to pass to try and bring back Skjelmose. We make a plan for Tadej! I did it!
“But at the end, the gap was bigger, so I just went with the flow to the finish line. These kinds of opportunities don’t come almost ever, and I am super proud to be able to have the level to manage this.”
Vingegaard Retains Yellow
With his fourth place finish, Jonas Vingegaard was able to hang out to the yellow jersey.
This isn’t my favourite circuit, but I think I can be happy that I’ve kept the yellow jersey”, said Vingegaard afterwards. “So far, things are going well and I’ve got nothing to complain about. I’m really trying to enjoy the yellow jersey and that’s what I did today.”
2026 Tour de France: Stage 2 Brief Results
- Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) @ 3h 40’01” (10″ bonus)
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) s.t. (6″ bonus)
- Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull BORA hansgrohe) s.t. (4″ bonus)
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) s.t.
- Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) @ 3″
General Classification After Stage 2
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) @ 4h 01′ 48”
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) @ 6″
- Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) @ 15″
- Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) @ 16″
- Juan Ayuso (LIDL – Trek) @ 19″
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