BARCELONA, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Isaac del Toro gifted UAE Team Emirates a memorable one-two finish after winning the second stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, crossing the line hand in hand with teammate and defending champion Tadej Pogacar in Barcelona.
The 168-kilometer stage began in Tarragona and concluded with three laps of Barcelona featuring three steep climbs of Montjuic. Riders also endured temperatures that reached 38 degrees Celsius.
An early three-man breakaway was gradually reeled in by the peloton as teams of the leading contenders positioned themselves for the uphill finale.
The repeated ascents of Montjuic reduced the field to a select group of favorites, including Pogacar, Del Toro and teammate Adam Yates. Overall leader Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike and Remco Evenepoel of Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe also remained in contention.
Pogacar appeared poised to launch one of his trademark attacks on the final climb, but instead waited until Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl-Trek accelerated with about two kilometers remaining.
Del Toro led the chase on the fast descent and initially looked to be setting up Pogacar for the stage victory. Instead, after the pair opened a gap over their rivals, Pogacar eased off and allowed the 21-year-old Mexican to take his first Tour de France stage win, with the two teammates celebrating together across the finish line.
Vingegaard finished in the same group, but Pogacar collected a six-second time bonus for second place to move within five seconds of the race lead.
After an underwhelming performance in Saturday's opening team time trial, UAE Team Emirates responded emphatically, underlining its strength ahead of the race's first major mountain test.
Monday's third stage starts in Granollers before crossing into the Pyrenees for the Tour's first mountain stage. The 3,850-meter climbing route finishes in Les Angles on the French side of the border, although organizers are monitoring wildfires in the region that could force changes to the course. ■
