Isaac del Toro made history by winning the Tour de L’Avenir

If we have learned something from many athletes, it is that mentality plays a key role to overcome obstacles. The desire to transcend, seek your goals and achieve milestones that are remembered, even when the road is long and you have to get up after an injury.

This is what happened to Isaac del Toro, a 19-year-old cyclist, He recovered from a femur fracture in 2022 who committed his entire year to making history by win the Tour de L’Avenir 2023, popularly known as the Tour de France Sub 23 category. While training for that edition of the Tour del Porvenir, he fell from his bicycle in training and suffered a fracture, a vein burst, his red blood cell levels decreased and he had difficulty walking. It was a long rehabilitation process, in which his coach Alfredo Cruz Bernaldez worked with him to regain his physical level and in which his mental aspect was important to not give up.

“The truth is, it was a very long process. Since I broke my femur, approximately 25 days after the event I already had five or six hours of appointments with the physical therapist, to try to recover as quickly as possible, to get mobility,” he recalled during the interview he gave to MILENIO-La Afificación after his return from Europe. “Evidently this type of rehabilitation is very complicated, trying to regain a little strength, agility and always trying to be there. “It has been a very long process of a year, but with a lot of work and the fact that it has been achieved has been a dream for me.”

The story behind success

Originally from Ensenada, in Baja California, Isaac met his coach when he was only eight years old. He has been in practice for almost 12 years and since before participating in the L’Avenir Tour, He was already projected as one of the promises of cycling in our country. He remains grateful to both his coaches and his team. AR Monex Pro Cycling Team to have achieved this historic title, the first for a Latin American since 2017, when the Colombian Egan Bernal took the glory.

“It’s nothing more than me (the recognition). Fortunately, I got the beautiful part that was difficult to tolerate. But I have been very well accompanied for several years, by the people who are under the bike, doing everything possible to keep us here, even my colleagues, who have a plan before the competition begins to be able to execute it as best as possible and have the best chance of a good result,” Del Toro said moments before, when he gave a press conference with his teammates. “The fact that it happened after so much work, so much effort from all this staff, was incredible. It’s a long job, but it was worth it.”

After recovery, he returned to the bike in September and practiced to participate in this edition of the Tour. Not only did he exceed the expectation of finishing in the top ten of the competition, he also became the first Mexican to triumph in the so-called youth Tour de France.

“It has been one of the happiest days of my life and the fact that I achieved it was incredible. I knew I had won the competition, but even when I raised my hands I was afraid that there was someone in front, It was a bit of panic, to see if it really happened, to be focused on the competition,” the Baja Californian was sincere.

Point to another dream

As part of his goals, is to compete in the Tour de France in the near future and seek to repeat the glory. If he succeeds, he would join names like Felice Gimondi, Joop Zoetemelk, Greg Lemond, Miguel Induráin, Egan Bernal and Tadej Pogačar as the only ones to win the Tour de France after being crowned in the Porvenir, while Laurent Fignon first triumphed in the stellar test before the youth.

“The Tour de L’Avenir is a watershed. We know the precedent there is and it is incredible to be able to be on that list, but there is still a lot to do. I think I can, but I have to do it the right way, always trying to fight to win the race. Obviously there is a long way to go and if I have the chance to be there, that’s how it will be, but until then, It will still be a dream”he concluded.

That’s what he said

“It has been a very long process of a year, but with a lot of work and the fact that it has been possible to achieve it has been a dream for me”

“Evidently there is a long way to go (for the Tour de France) and if I have the chance to be there, that’s how it will be, but until then, it will still be a dream”

Isaac del Toro

Mexican cyclist

Clue

A quick rise

Del Toro started in the lplace 3,792 in the ranking of the International Cycling Union; now occupies the position 344.

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