Paul Seixas slightly frustrated with Sepp Kuss in finale of Tour de France mountain stage

In France, all eyes were naturally on Paul Seixas during the first true mountain stage of the Tour de France. The 19-year-old rider from Decathlon CMA CGM held his own impressively once the climbing really started, finishing in the group that included Remco Evenepoel, Isaac del Toro and Juan Ayuso after the Col du Tourmalet.

For a while, Seixas even looked capable of following Jonas Vingegaard when Tadej Pogačar and Del Toro went all-out on the decisive climb. In the end, however, the Frenchman chose to ride at his own pace rather than go too deep too early. He managed to stay with Florian Lipowitz and Del Toro, before Evenepoel and company came back on during the descent.

In the sprint for third place, Seixas came through strongly, but Sepp Kuss appeared to hinder him slightly. The Frenchman ultimately crossed the line in fifth place.

“That’s not bad. Tadej was very strong, congratulations to him. I think I finished where I belong. I’m just a little disappointed because Sepp Kuss did all kinds of strange things in the sprint,” Seixas said in a brief reaction to RMC after the first mountain stage of the Tour de France.

In the general classification, Seixas now sits sixth, 3:55 behind race leader Pogačar. Del Toro and Ayuso are still ahead of him in the young rider classification as well.

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]