Mexican makes perfect start to the race for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with teammate António Morgado also within the top 10
UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Isaac del Toro made a winning start to the Lidl Deutschland Tour, with the Mexican claiming victory in the opening prologue.
Raced across just a little over 3km in Germany, the ITT was short enough to see Del Toro and most riders take to the start on their road bikes.
Del Toro, full of confidence after the Tour de France, and with the aerodynamic Colnago Y1Rs between his legs, rode at a scintillating pace to beat the best time of Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step).
Magnier, who can count himself unlucky to have ridden earlier in the day when the course was besieged by rain, had spent a significant time in the hot seat. But Del Toro, the penultimate rider off the starting ramp in Bad Orb, was to be the fastest rider come the end of the day.
In a time of a little over three minutes, the Tour de France podium finisher won the prologue and takes the first leader’s jersey of the race. In doing so, he comes the first-ever Mexican to lead the Deutschland Tour.
Del Toro’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, António Morgado, also produced a handy performance and ended the day in seventh place. The squad will take this confidence into the coming days as the five-day stage race transitions to the full road stages.
Del Toro: “It was a hard one for everybody, I think. But I’m not going to lie, I think the weather helped me a little bit, otherwise I think Magnier would still be in the lead. He did a crazy good job. I am happy with the team, everybody helped me and gave me some morale for these three minutes.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to take risks so I took the corners as safe as I could, and then I sprinted to the line. I’m super happy to take this, I feel good on the bike but mentally I am still recovering from the Tour de France. We will see how the week goes, but I am happy to be back!”
Lidl Deutschland Tour 2026 prologue results:
- Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:08
- Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) +2”
- Laurenz Rex (Soudal Quick-Step) +5”
Lidl Deutschland Tour 2026 general classification after the prologue:
- Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:08
- Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) +2”
- Laurenz Rex (Soudal Quick-Step) +5”
