'Nothing's impossible' - Seixas defends decision to stay in Dauphiné after crash
Paul Seixas has defended his decision to line up for the final stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes despite his heavy crash on stage 7, but he downplayed his prospects of overcoming his deficit in the overall standings.
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The 19-year-old begins the last day of the rebranded Dauphiné in sixth place overall, 1:54 behind leader Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Seixas conceded 1:21 to dangerman Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on the Grand Colombier on Saturday, having spent much of the stage chasing the peloton following an early crash.
After the stage, Seixas admitted that cuts to his hands and elbow had affected him on descents, but on Sunday morning, his Decathlon CMA CGM team confirmed that he would complete the Dauphiné. Before the start of stage 8 in Beaufort, Seixas pushed back against the idea that it was risky to continue in the race.
“I haven’t broken anything and given that the Dauphiné was always part of my Tour preparation, it’s important to get in some good, high intensity work today,” Seixas told CyclingPro.net. “It certainly hurts a bit, but it’s the last day, so we’re going to give it our all today.”
Seixas is scheduled to make his Tour de France debut next month, when he will be the youngest participant since the 1930s. He lined up for this Dauphiné among the favourites after his remarkable start to 2026, which included victories at Itzulia Basque Country and Flèche Wallonne, and a strong showing against Tadej Pogacar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
But after his crash and the time lost to Del Toro, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma Lease a Bike) and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), Seixas has work to do if he is to become the first French winner of the Dauphiné since Christophe Moreau in 2007.
“I’ll just hang in there, then we’ll see how I feel as the day goes on,” Seixas said. “it’s really about testing myself today. That’s what I’ve been saying from the start: testing myself.
“It’s going to be complicated today. But nothing’s impossible, so we’ve got to fight right to the end and do the best we can.”
Speaking to FloBikes, Seixas explained that his elbow injury was the biggest concern going into the final stage, which features the Col du Pré, Montée de Bisanne and Col des Aravis ahead of a summit finish at Plateau de Solaison.
“I think today it’s my elbow, because the problem is I have some hematoma, so on the downhill you have some pain in the arms so it’s really difficult to hang on the bike. But it’s ok. I did it yesterday, so I can do it today.”
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