Tadej Pogačar wasn't at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to defend his title from 12 months ago, but he would have watched on knowing he'd left it in good hands as Isaac del Toro dominated the final two stages to retain the yellow jersey for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
In less than three weeks, Del Toro will switch from spearhead to superdomestique at his debut Tour de France, where supporting and leading out Pogačar on the hardest climbs to a record-equalling fifth title will be his only focus
