“He blocked me as many as three times”: Seixas unhappy with Del Toro’s actions in crucial Strade Bianche phase

“Second place was the highest possible result for me today,” Seixas said in his flash interview, referring to the dominant victory of Tadej Pogačar. “He was like he was in 2024 and 2025 — one or two steps better than the rest.” Seixas could only take his hat off to the Slovenian. “But I’m very happy with second place. It’s crazy to be here.”

On Monte Sante Marie, where Pogačar made the winning move, Seixas was briefly able to follow the world champion. “It was a bit strange, because when he attacked I tried to follow. But Del Toro blocked me afterwards — not once or twice, but three times. They chose to play the race that way,” Seixas said, keeping his criticism measured.

“I then tried to close the gap, but when Pogačar has twenty or thirty metres, that is already a huge distance,” he continued. “I got close again, but it was about five hundred metres too much. On top of that, I could see that Pogačar was controlling his effort. He looked behind and simply didn’t want me on his wheel.”

In the closing phase, Seixas and Del Toro rode clear of the chasing group together. On the steep climb up to the Piazza del Campo in Siena, the Frenchman then beat the Mexican in the battle for second place. “It was very hard, because Del Toro didn’t want to work — which is understandable with Pogačar up the road. The fact that I was still able to drop him on the final climb is incredible,” Seixas concluded with satisfaction.