'I consider him on a par with Vingegaard at the Giro' - Matxin hails Seixas before Tour de France

Seixas had a difficult Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, with crashes on stage 7 costing him 1:21 on the Grand Colombier before an abandonment on stage 8. Matxin came away from the race more impressed by Seixas than by the final result.

"Regardless of the falls, or perhaps based on them, we saw a super Seixas who is really going strong, more than we thought," Matxin said in his interview with Bici.pro. "I'm not looking at the final result but at his behaviour. I consider it one of the main obstacles on the road to Tadej's poker victory. The fall he suffered tells us that he is not only strong in his legs but also in character; he doesn't give up, otherwise he wouldn't have made that sensational four-minute comeback."

Seixas will make his Grand Tour debut at the 2026 Tour de France at 19-years-old, with Matxin comparing his threat level to that of Vingegaard at the Giro.

"Which absolutely must be taken into consideration, even in light of the overall standings, even if he's never ridden a Grand Tour. But when you show that kind of performance, you can't even be afraid of a three-week race. I consider him on a par with Jonas Vingegaard and what the Dane showed at the Giro. We really can't underestimate anyone."

The 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was won by Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on the final stage, with Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) second and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) third. Del Toro had lost more than three minutes to the stage 6 breakaway containing Tuckwell before recovering across the final two summit finishes.

"Well, I think we also sent a good message," Matxin said. "We showed that Del Toro is in good shape for the Tour. I especially liked the fact that he never got discouraged. He never lost sight of the final goal, not even considering the breakaway that had somewhat disrupted the standings in the early days."

UAE Team Emirates-XRG had been more worried about race situations than the direct rivalry with Ayuso, Matxin said, with the team going into stage 7 more than three minutes behind Tuckwell.

"It wasn't so much the battle with Ayuso that was worrying us. It was the situations that often arise during the race. The evolution of the race wasn't easy, with a breakaway that took up many minutes. Catching up isn't easy, putting the pieces back together. It depends on your level, as it also depends on your rivals. But you can only control your energy, your management, and try to readjust the race. We knew that Isaac is obviously a very strong rider and could catch up, but we had to put him in a position to do so."

Del Toro will ride the 2026 Tour de France as Pogačar's senior climbing domestique. The Mexican rode the 2025 Giro d'Italia in pink for nine days and finished second overall. Matxin was measured on whether Del Toro is ready for Grand Tour leadership.

"Yes, of course, the quality he has allows him to aspire to anything. I've never really liked the word 'captain', even though it's clear that in a great team there must be a hierarchy. I'm interested in knowing that Isaac has every chance of emerging, which means we can approach the Tour with a plan B in our back pocket. He knows he's capable of winning a Grand Tour, that's what matters."

Pogačar, Vingegaard, Seixas and Remco Evenepoel are the four favourites for the maillot jaune. Matxin pointed to Ayuso's Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ride as a reminder that other riders will figure.

"On paper, these are always the names. But then the race itself tends to make one stand out rather than another, which means there will be other riders to consider. Ayuso himself impressed me at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes; he was strong, so he could be a factor. That doesn't change the fact that those are the favourites."

The 2026 Tour de France begins in Barcelona with a 19km team time trial on Saturday, 4 July.