Crash of young star Seixas overshadows stage win by Del Toro at Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

„Von schwerwiegenden Blessuren blieb Seixas laut eigenen Angaben verschont."

At the finish, Seixas took seventh place on Saturday. He finished 1:21 minutes behind stage winner Isaac Del Toro, who rides for the UAE team. In the general classification, the Frenchman slipped to sixth place, his deficit to the leading Australian Luke Tuckwell, who rides for Red Bull, amounting to just under two minutes.

Del Toro closes in, Jorgenson lurks

Del Toro used the mountain-top finish at the Grand Colombier to significantly reduce his gap to the leader. Ahead of the final leg, he sat just 49 seconds behind Tuckwell. The Mexican climbed to third place in the general classification and is therefore well placed in the race for the podium ahead of the concluding finale.

Behind him followed Matteo Jorgenson of Team Visma, who can likewise hope to attack on the final day. The American sits 42 seconds behind Tuckwell and could still get involved in the fight for the general classification on the closing stage with another mountain-top finish. The constellation ahead of the finale therefore promises an open duel between the chasers and the Australian leader.

Seixas ahead of Tour debut

For Seixas, the dress rehearsal before his planned Tour de France debut in July has to that extent become something of a balancing act. After he had already finished third at the European Championships this season, he is regarded as one of the greatest French talents and has announced that he wants to challenge the top favorites Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard at the race around France.

The incident at the Grand Colombier shows, however, just how narrow the line between a sporting breakthrough and a bitter setback is for a young rider. With his finish sporting bandaged wounds, Seixas at least demonstrated the kind of robustness that would be needed for a three-week national tour.

According to the organizers, the closing stage on Sunday features another mountain-top finish and is likely to shake up the general classification once more. While Del Toro and Jorgenson will go on the attack, for Seixas the main task is to defend his sixth place and reach Paris without further complications.

The stage race in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region was called the Critérium du Dauphiné until 2025 and is considered one of the most important dress rehearsals for the Tour de France. Many past winners used the race to demonstrate their form for the summer before heading to the grand loop through France in July.