Isaac Del Toro’s Colnago V5Rs: his bike for the mountains

Isaac del Toro’s talent has never passed unnoticed. At the 2025 Giro d’Italia, it was impossible to ignore.

On the white roads leading into Siena, the young Mexican seized the Maglia Rosa after Stage 9 and carried it deep into the final weekend of the race.

For days, he rode not like a rider discovering the pressure of a Grand Tour, but like one who belonged at its centre. Only on the penultimate stage, after almost two weeks in pink, did Simon Yates overturn the classification. Del Toro eventually finished second overall and won the young rider classification.

It was not a question of talent. That had already been settled.

The Giro instead revealed something every champion has to earn the hard way: experience. The instinct to know when a Grand Tour must be attacked, when it must be defended and when one single mountain can outweigh everything that came before it.

Del Toro left Italy without the pink jersey, but with something perhaps even more valuable for a 21-year-old rider: another layer of understanding.

One year later, he arrived at the Tour de France ready to use it.

It took only two road stages for Del Toro to make his mark on his first Tour.

On the road to Barcelona, a mechanical problem forced him to switch from the Y1Rs to the Colnago V5Rs. Despite losing significant ground, he fought his way back into contention and, on the steep ramps of Montjuïc, finished the job with authority.

Victory on Stage 2 was more than a result. It was a declaration: Del Toro had arrived at the Tour not simply to learn, but to compete.

Del Toro's V5Rs used the Dark Series raw-carbon finish, with silver Colnago logos.

Removing traditional paint saves further weight, approaching 6.735kg. Around that frame sat a distinctly Del Toro setup: an ENVE SES Aero Pro cockpit, ENVE SES 4.5 Pro wheels and Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tyres. Shimano Dura-Ace provided the drivetrain, with a power-meter crankset and standard 54/40 chainrings, while Carbon-Ti components were used for details including the derailleur hanger and several fasteners. And where Pogačar has become associated with Fizik's Adaptive 3D-printed saddles, Del Toro chose a more traditional, and lighter, Fizik Vento Antares 00 with standard padding. A Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT completed the cockpit.

No unnecessary ornament. Just a machine prepared for racing at the highest level.

By Stage 20, the battle had moved from ambition to confirmation.

Across a brutal Alpine route featuring the Galibier, Sarenne and Alpe d’Huez, Del Toro rode alongside Tadej Pogačar as the race for the white jersey reached its decisive moment. When his rivals began to crack, Del Toro held firm. Together, he and Pogačar drove towards the finish and effectively sealed the young rider classification.

From Montjuïc to the Galibier, Del Toro had shown the same qualities as the V5Rs beneath him: lightness when the gradient rises, stiffness when the race explodes, and precision when everything is decided on the climb.