Too much pain for Paul Seixas: brave final-stage start ends in early abandon

Paul Seixas has taken full responsibility for his crash in stage 7 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The young Frenchman from Decathlon CMA CGM went down hard after the race had restarted following a neutralization, then had to rely on his entire team to bring him back from a major deficit.One day later, he was able to start the final stage as planned, but that proved too much: Seixas abandoned early.

Seixas was on the ground shortly after stage 7 resumed following a neutralized descent. With more than 100 kilometers still to race, the white jersey wearer was suddenly lying at the side of the road and appeared to be in real pain. After being checked over and patched up, he continued, tucked in behind his teammates.

Daan Hoole and Stefan Bissegger limited the damage on the flatter roads, keeping the gap to a peloton that had exploded under repeated attacks to around three to four minutes. Then Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Léo Bisiaux became invaluable on the climbs, helping close the gap back to the main group. Once the breakaway had formed, the peloton never truly pressed on at full force.

Seixas made it back with around 30 kilometers to go, but he paid for that long chase on the final climb. On the Grand Colombier, an 8.4-kilometer ascent averaging just over 10 percent, he lost 1 minute and 21 seconds to stage winner Isaac del Toro. Even so, Seixas still finished a hugely impressive seventh on the day before collapsing after the finish. He had emptied the tank.

Because Seixas was named the most combative rider of the day, he came through the mixed zone afterward and gave his account to Cyclism’Actu. He was brutally self-critical. “It’s simple: I made a stupid mistake. It was entirely my fault, and I apologize to the guys around me, who I held up and who I could easily have taken down as well,” he said.

By his own admission, Seixas misjudged a corner, took it too wide and carried far too much speed into it. “I managed to save it, but I ended up in a gutter filled with gravel. My wheel slipped. We were doing 70 kilometers per hour, and I went flying. I slid forward like I was on a slide, for maybe 20 or 30 meters on the road. I just kept sliding, and on a dry road, that really does not feel good.”

That explained the torn kit around Seixas’ shorts and stomach, as well as the wounds on his arms and knees. “The gloves saved me today,” he said. “Today proves that you should always wear them, because if you go down on your hands at 70 kilometers per hour, your hands take a huge hit. Mine are pretty badly damaged. I could not really put them on the handlebars anymore, and that was difficult because it put a lot of strain on my back.”

Seixas struggled to hold his handlebars properly, although strangely enough, his legs did not completely abandon him. Still, after finishing seventh on the stage, pride was not the first emotion he felt for himself.

“I’m mainly proud of my teammates,” he said. “I messed it up today in that descent, so I’m really angry with myself. I’m not proud of myself, but I am proud of the team.”

It was for those teammates that Seixas kept riding and gave absolutely everything. “They did an incredible job. I only lost one place in the general classification, and what they did was unbelievable. We’ll see tonight, but I’m going to fight until the end for the team.”

One day later, the Frenchman appeared at the start of the final stage as planned. “I slept well, so I’m happy to still be in the race. I feel OK and hope everything goes fine on the bike. The problem is mainly in the elbow, where I have a bruise. There is definitely some pain there, and it is difficult to lean on it.”

“But if it worked on Saturday, it should work now as well,” he added. “I’m not angry either, because it was my own fault. No excuses.”

In the end, though, it was not that simple. The Frenchman was in trouble immediately from the start on the Col du Pré. With more than 100 kilometres still to go, he was dropped. After the descent, it became clear that he could not continue, and Seixas abandoned the race.

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]