Singapore Criterium: Isaac Del Toro takes surprise solo win as the sprinters miss out
Isaac del Toro continued his battle with rival Paul Seixas on Sunday, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider taking a surprise solo win in the Singapore Criterium.
Both he and Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM) had been part of a four-man group which escaped the bunch on the 23rd lap around the city. As the final lap approached, the Mexican champion simply rode off the front of that group, holding Seixas a few seconds behind him until the line.
Seixas hung on for second place, a handful of seconds behind, with Søren Warenskjold (UNO X Mobility) winning the sprint for third place. The peloton crossed the line some 30 seconds behind.
With the traditional Saitama Criterium in Japan coming next weekend, Singapore was the first of two Far Eastern criteriums arranged by the Tour de France organisers, ASO, with the race taking place over 25 laps of a two-kilometre city circuit. The race started aggressively and remained that way throughout, with multiple breakaways going clear all day long.
The first of those got away after the opening intermediate sprint and contained Baptiste Viestroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek), home road champion Eamon Lim (CCACHE-BODYWRAP) and Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen (Decathlon-CMA CGM). They were away for a handful of laps, but the intermediate sprints, which came every five laps, dictated the race, the peloton re-forming before each one.
That meant that none of the breakaways, however large, were able to gain any kind of advantage, with 10 seconds being all most would create.
Biniam Girmay won the first intermediate sprint, and his NSN team were instrumental in containing the breakaways’ ambitions. Even a strong group of six was unable to build a lead as the race approached the final kick, with five laps of the race to go.
One lap after that final sprint, French sensation Seixas let an all-star group of four up the road, with Del Toro, Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) and Søren Waerenskjold (UNO X Mobility) quickly establishing a lead and taking 10 seconds into the final three laps. With little conviction in the chase, their lead expanded and, at the start of the penultimate lap, that advantage was out to 30 seconds, the greatest advantage of any of the day’s breaks, and the race seemed set to end with a four-up sprint.
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