Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG) overwhelmed his UAE Tour rivals on the climb of Jebel Hafeet, to claim victory and seize the race leader's jersey for Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), who got the better of him on Jebel Mobrah three days ago.
Though Ireland's Eddie Dunbar (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) has not enjoyed the kind of form he would have wanted on this race - never being in the general classification battle - the signs were slightly better for the Irishman on today's second climbing stage.
Again, he was not at the front fighting for the win - as del Toro went head-to-head with Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) and the very impressive Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla). But Dunbar was more or less among those next on the road on the climb.
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He finished in 16th place, at 52 seconds, which was not a result he'd be aiming for. But he went up the final ascent in decent order. And perhaps today may prove the start of Dunbar's form starting to build, as his second stage race of the season comes to an end and he looks to the Giro.
Del Toro surged forward at the front with just over 2km to go and rode to victory 12 seconds ahead of Plapp and 21 seconds clear of Gall. Race leader Tiberi was unable to reproduce the same performance that saw him win stage 3, as he was 4th at 31 seconds.
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And that means the race lead passes from the Italian to the Mexican stage winner. Del Toro now has a buffer of 20 seconds over Tiberi, with Plapp now 3rd overall at 1:04 after putting in a fantastic climbing display today.
Ryan Mullen (NSN Pro Cycling) was 120th today, at 17:55, and will be in action again tomorrow trying to lead-out team mate Ethan Vernon in what should be a finish for the sprinters. Dunbar is now 21st overall at 4:22, with Mullen in 111th at 36:25.
ISAAC DEL TORO MAKES IT STICK ??
The UAE man takes the stage and moves into the overall lead at the UAE Tour ? pic.twitter.com/19elLybYBD
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) February 21, 2026
