By
Isaac del Toro crossed the finish line in Montreal without a medal, then showed just how much the result meant.
The 22-year-old from Ensenada finished fifth Sunday in the elite men’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships, the best finish ever by a Mexican in the event. Brandon McNulty of the United States won in 6 hours, 17 minutes, 4 seconds after attacking with 32 kilometers (19.9 miles) remaining. Del Toro finished 14 seconds behind him — and only one second separated the Mexican from the medal places.
That would be a career result for almost anyone. For Del Toro, it hurt.
He was visibly emotional after the 273.4-kilometer (170-mile) race, a punishing test with roughly 3,800 meters (2.4 miles) of climbing. His disappointment made sense. Two weeks earlier, Del Toro had won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on much of the same terrain, arriving at the World Championships not as an interesting outsider but as a legitimate contender for the rainbow jersey.
The fifth-place finish still pushed Mexican cycling into territory it had never reached. Del Toro improved on his own seventh-place finish at the 2025 Worlds in Kigali, which had already been Mexico’s best result in the elite men’s road race. He also finished sixth in this year’s individual time trial.
The tears were not evidence of failure. They showed how much the standard has changed.
Mexico now has a rider who does not enter the World Championships hoping merely to stay with the best. Del Toro expects to beat them. That may be the most important result of all.
Mexico’s October 10
For Mexican baseball fans, October will have more than a passing connection this year. Ten players with Mexican ties are on clubs headed to Major League Baseball’s postseason, giving the country a sizable stake in a playoff field finalized on the last day of the regular season.
The group spans both leagues and a range of roles. Tampa Bay has infielder Jonathan Aranda and reliever Manuel Rodríguez. Boston carries outfielder Jarren Duran and left-hander Patrick Sandoval. Houston has infielder Isaac Paredes, while the Chicago White Sox have infielder Chase Meidroth. In the National League, Milwaukee has Joey Ortiz and left-hander JoJo Romero, the Cubs have right-hander Javier Assad, and San Diego has reliever Jeremiah Estrada.
Mexico’s October presence runs deeper than birthplace. The group includes Mexican-born players and U.S.-born players who have represented Mexico internationally, spread across contenders in both leagues. The uncertainty comes with postseason roster decisions: clubs reset their 26-man rosters each round, meaning not every player tied to a playoff team is guaranteed a place once October begins.
Still, the depth is notable. The group includes everyday players, starting pitching options, and relievers who could be asked to work some of the highest-leverage innings of the season.
For years, Mexican interest in October baseball often centered on one or two familiar names. This postseason offers something different: enough players, on enough contenders, to make Mexico part of the story almost every night.
