Johannessen impressed by Seixas comeback: ‘He must be crazy strong’

On Friday, Tobias Halland Johannessen lost a sprint finish atop the first summit finish of the Dauphiné to Crest-Voland against Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) from the breakaway. 

However, the Norwegian knew that it was important to quickly put that disappointment behind him, with another crucial stage where he could make a difference in the GC as well as fighting for a stage win.

That's exactly what he did, as Johannessen fought his way to third place atop the brutal Grand Colombier climb on Saturday, finishing 38 seconds behind stage winner Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and 14 seconds behind Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) in second. 

The Norwegian was satisfied with his performance, which saw him leap from twelfth to fifth in the GC, 1:33 behind Luke Tuckwell, who held onto the yellow jersey.

“I'm happy with the performance and yeah, super tough day. So, I feel like I can be very happy with the legs because I felt quite sh*t during the stage,” Johannessen told reporters, including CyclingProNet. "It was so hard and so warm, but I think it was the same for everyone.”

Johanessen is also now within a minute of the remaining podium positions, currently occupied by Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Del Toro, with just one final mountain stage remaining. 

One rider, Johannessen and the rest of the peloton would have expected to feature towards the sharp end on the Grand Colombier was Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM).

However, the French teenager suffered a crash in the first half of the stage, in Yenne, at the foot of the Mont du Chat, according to information from Daniel Friebe.

By the time Seixas had remounted, he was bloodied and wounded and trailed the peloton by around 3:30. Despite the significant setback, Seixas and his Decathlon teammates battled hard and managed to return to the bunch ahead of the day’s final two climbs. 

While he was distanced by the front riders, including Johannessen early on the climb, Seixas dug deep to finish seventh on the stage, 1:21 behind Del Toro and 0:43 behind Johannessen.

The Norwegian expressed his respect to Seixas after a day of racing the Frenchman isn’t likely to forget any time soon.

“I think it was just we had to continue, of course, since there were people in front. But yeah, he [Seixas] must be crazy strong because to close a gap like this, that's completely crazy and I hope he can be all good and then the Tour is the most important for him,” said Johannessen. “So I think he's going to be in top shape for the Tour.”

Seixas sits one position behind Johannessen in the GC standings, 1:54 behind Tuckwell. Johannessen’s current standing is particularly impressive considering the fact he shipped 2:56 on the opening stage. 

With the eighth and final stage of the Dauphiné, featuring the third consecutive summit finish and over 4,000 metres of elevation gain, Johannessen remains well in the mix for the podium and can dare to dream even higher.