Isaac Del Toro takes the lead at Plateau de Solaison and conquers the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026

Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) confirmed his status as the favorite and was crowned the final winner of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 after delivering an exhibition in the last stage. The Mexican attacked on the tough final slopes of the Plateau de Solaison, won the stage solo, and took the lead from Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), who could not withstand the offensive from the favorites.

Del Toro seals the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes with a devastating attack on the final climb

The eighth and final day, starting in Beaufort and finishing at Plateau de Solaison after 120.1 kilometers, featured an explosive route with four major climbs and a perfect ending to decide the overall classification. Tuckwell was defending just 42 seconds over Matteo Jorgenson and 49 over Del Toro, an insufficient margin against a final climb of 11.5 kilometers at an average gradient of 8.9%.

Seixas tried, but the aftermath of the fall forced him to abandon

One of the uncertainties of the day was to know the physical condition of Paul Seixas. The Frenchman had suffered a hard fall in the Grand Colombier stage and, although he started, it soon became clear that he was not in condition to fight for the general classification.

Seixas began to lose contact with the peloton from the first climbs, needed medical assistance during the stage, and ultimately ended up abandoning the race. The young leader of Decathlon CMA CGM thus saw any chance of fighting for the final victory vanish in a week where he had shown to be one of the strongest mountain riders.

Del Toro launches the decisive attack

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While a breakaway with riders like Laurens De Plus, Carlos Rodríguez, Georg Steinhauser, and Valentin Paret-Peintre tried to make headway, the real battle was reserved for the Plateau de Solaison.

Lidl-Trek hardened the race throughout the day in support of Juan Ayuso, while UAE Team Emirates-XRG prepared the ground for Del Toro. When the road steepened definitively, leader Luke Tuckwell began to show signs of weakness. Riders like Cian Uijtdebroeks also fell back, followed by Matteo Jorgenson.

Nine kilometers from the finish came the move that decided the race. Del Toro launched a strong attack, and none of his rivals could follow his wheel. The Mexican quickly opened a gap of twenty seconds that continued to grow kilometer after kilometer.

Behind, Ayuso tried to react solo and managed to distance Jorgenson, Johannessen, and the rest of the favorites, but he could never really close the gap to the UAE rider.

Second consecutive victory and final triumph

Del Toro crowned his exhibition by raising his arms at Plateau de Solaison after 3:35:07 of effort. Ayuso crossed the finish line a minute later and Tobias Halland Johannessen completed the stage podium.

The time lost by Luke Tuckwell was enough for Del Toro to definitively don the yellow jersey. The Australian from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe held on better than expected and managed to keep the second position in the overall classification, while Ayuso completed the final podium.

With this victory, Del Toro closes an outstanding week in which he grew day by day until dominating the two consecutive queen stages of Grand Colombier and Plateau de Solaison. A performance that confirms the Mexican as one of the fittest riders at the moment and a luxury support for Tadej Pogacar ahead of the upcoming Tour de France.

Top 10 stage 8

1. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – 3:35:07
2. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) +1:00
3. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +1:02
4. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +1:31
5. Cristián Rodríguez (XDS Astana Team) +1:31
6. Carlos Rodríguez (Netcompany INEOS) +1:36
7. Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +1:43
8. Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +1:43
9. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar Team) +1:43
10. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) +1:43

Final general classification Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026

1. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – 29:35:05
2. Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +54”
3. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) +1:17
4. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) +1:36
5. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +1:46
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +2:41
7. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar Team) +3:11
8. Cristián Rodríguez (XDS Astana Team) +3:15
9. José Félix Parra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) +6:25
10. Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet (Groupama-FDJ United) +7:21