Isaac del Toro, a 22-year-old debutant Mexican cyclist, won stage two of the 2026 Tour de France on July 5. Riding for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Del Toro overcame a mechanical issue and a lengthy bike change delay to claim victory by accelerating on the short steep climb to Montjuic, Barcelona after 168.5 km of racing from Tarragona [1, 2, 3].
Del Toro crossed the finish line in 3 hours 40 minutes and 1 second. The stage featured a challenging route culminating in the steep ascent of Montjuic [1]. After the stage, Del Toro described his victory as "insane" and "full emotions," crediting his team, family, and friends for their support. He said, "I said before I'm a very privileged guy... the work of everybody - my family, my friends... it's just insane" [1, 2].
Del Toro’s teammate, four-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar, finished second on the stage. Pogacar earned six bonus seconds which moved him up to second overall in the general classification standings [1, 2, 3]. Remco Evenepoel took third place, narrowly ahead of defending Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard. Vingegaard, who rides for Visma-Lease a Bike, finished fourth on the stage and kept the yellow jersey with a six-second overall lead over Pogacar [1, 2, 3].
British rider Tom Pidcock was the highest-placed Briton on the stage, finishing in the main group but three seconds behind the leaders [1, 2].
Stage two’s route covered 168.5 kilometers, starting in Tarragona and ending with the steep climb up Montjuic in Barcelona [1, 2].
Stage three is scheduled for July 6 and will cover 195.9 kilometers from Granollers to Les Angles. It features 3,850 meters of climbing as the race crosses the Pyrenees into France [1, 2]. Due to nearby forest wildfires in France, the stage will proceed without spectators in the affected French sections, and the publicity caravan will be limited to only the riders' passage. Race official Pierre Regnault de la Mothe stated, "On French territory, the publicity caravan will not circulate. The setup will be limited to the passage of the riders only" [2].
