'It was really tough' - Seixas manages Tourmalet to stay in Tour podium hunt

Tadej Pogačar’s superiority was never put in any doubt on stage 6, with the world champion cruising clear of the front group a little under 5km from the top of the Tourmalet. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) put up some initial resistance, while Seixas found himself in the third group on the road with Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Seixas and company already trailed Pogačar by 1:27 at the summit. Although reinforcements arrived in the form of Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull) and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), that gap yawned out to 2:57 by the finish at Gavernie-Gèdre some 38km later, where Seixas sprinted to fifth place.

“It was really tough, to be honest,” Seixas told France Télévisions. “I think it went quite well. I managed the climb and voilà, a respectable fifth place at the finish isn’t bad. Tadej was very strong, congratulations to him. I finished where I deserved to finish.”

The thought was echoed by Dominique Serieys, CEO of Decathlon CMA GCM, when he spoke to RMC Radio at the finish. It was Seixas’ second top-five finish of the race after he took fourth at Les Angles on Monday.

“We’re pleased because it’s a major mountain stage, the first since the start,” Serieys said. “This was the plan, it went really well, he’s right where he should be and we’re very happy,” 

Seixas’ performance sees him move up to sixth place overall, 3:55 behind Pogačar, who has retaken the yellow jersey. The Frenchman is 28 seconds off the third step of the podium, which is currently occupied by the white jersey Del Toro.

“That’s in line with the preparation we’ve put into the stages over the past few weeks,” Serieys said. “The first week is already, I’d say, off to a good start. We must always remain cautious, because the Tour de France is a long race, and this is only the sixth stage. We’ll see this evening how the stage went for Paul, but in any case, we’re on track.”

Seixas pushed Pogačar at the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, following his attack on the Redoute and resisting his forcing until the upper portion of the Roche-aux-Faucons. That performance heightened French expectations that he might challenge Pogačar for supremacy at the Tour, but Serieys acknowledged there was little to be done against the world champion here.

“He’s incredibly strong. He already had 30-second gap over Jonas and then about a minute or so over the group with Paul and the other riders on the climb,” Serieys said. “Then on the descent, he actually gained 40 seconds – he was faster going downhill than uphill. He really is incredible. He’s the world champion, he’s the strongest in every respect.”