Young guns Seixas and Ayuso were stage 15’s biggest losers: ‘There’s no other option’

Remco Evenepoel was the big winner of the fifteenth stage of the Tour de France. He won the stage and moved up to second place in the general classification. In the battle for the podium and the white jersey, two riders took a significant hit: Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) lost a considerable amount of time on the Plateau de Solaison.

On that grueling climb, Tadej Pogacar decided to work for Isaac Del Toro. Together with Evenepoel, the trio broke away: Ayuso and Seixas couldn’t keep up. The Frenchman mentioned last crossed the finish line in fourth place, 58 seconds behind the winner, while the Spanish team leader of Lidl-Trek lost even more time. The gap at the finish was two minutes.

Seixas spent one day in the white jersey, but had to hand it back to Del Toro. “It was really tough,” he told Cyclism’Actu, among others. “They started from way back. I wanted to pace myself. I was able to climb at my own pace, but maybe I should have pushed a little harder. I hesitated a bit at the end, but I still finished strong. It was still a good climb, and I’m still in a good position in the general classification.”

That’s why the 19-year-old Frenchman isn’t all that disappointed. “Overall, I’m satisfied. It wasn’t ideal with the flat tire. I had to shoot a few arrows because of that. At this level, I might be missing just that little bit; I might not quite be able to keep up with the best. But we’re trying to look at it positively. I managed to stay strong in the moment. I’ve recovered well, which is great. I hope things will go just as well next week.”

Seixas rode through his home region, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. His parents were therefore also there at the finish line. Exhausted, he fell into their arms. It was a special day for me. “It was a big day; I suffered a lot. It was good—I did what I could. I was hoping for something better, but that’s life. Today, a few riders were stronger—hats off to them—on to the next challenge.”

Ayuso had an even tougher time than his rival, who is four years younger. The Spanish climber was still in fifth place after Le Markstein on Saturday, just 18 seconds behind Evenepoel. He was right in the thick of the battle for the podium, but suddenly things look very different. He’s now in sixth place, but already 1 minute and 30 seconds behind third-place Del Toro. That’s a big gap, with a tough week still to go.

How does Ayuso explain his subpar performance? “I’m a little disappointed,” he told TVE. “I tried to give it my all on the first attack and paid the price with a poor final one and a half—or even two—kilometers. It wasn’t my best day. There’s still a week to go, and I need to focus on myself. There’s no other option.”