The Mexican, who is taking part in the Tour de France for the first time, led the peloton up the Montjuic with 700 metres to go, as he looked poised to lead out his quadruple Tour-winning teammate. But Pogačar allowed him to race slightly ahead as the Slovenian created a narrow gap to Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the yellow jersey.
Pogacar caught up with Del Toro at the line to celebrate with his teammate, while Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) managed to squeeze in between Pogacar and Vingegaard and seize third spot.
Nobody behind had the legs to match the young Mexican's powerful burst, as the Slovenian favorite was happy for his teammate to claim the second Grand Tour stage victory of his career.
Del Toro's first Tour de France stage win was Mexico's first win at the race in 36 years, since Raúl Alcalá claimed stage 7 in 1990. Vingegaard remains in the yellow jersey as the overall leader of the race, but Pogačar managed to close the gap from twelve to six seconds, as he moved into second overall. Evenepoel is in third place, 15 seconds behind.
After the opening day team time trial, where Pogačar surrendered 12 seconds to Vingegaard as UAE finished third, the second stage was a welcome revenge for UAE, who again looked to be the strongest team in the race.
"It means really everything. I said before I'm a very privileged guy. You cannot believe how much we work as a team to be here. Plenty of confidence by the whole team – this is the work of everybody, my family, my friends, where I grew up. I cannot believe I just did it in this attempt, it's just insane," Del Toro said after the stage.
Del Toro said he was happy to get the win for Mexico on the same day that the country's soccer team play in the World Cup round of 16.
"We have these 11 guys ripping it in the football, they're doing amazing and to be at the same level here in France at the hardest race is like a dream," he added.
Authorities say a final decision on maintaining Monday’s Tour de France Stage 3 finish will be made by Sunday evening after a rapidly spreading wildfire in the Pyrénées‑Orientales has consumed around 1,500 hectares and is approximately 70 km from Les Angles.
