Paul Seixas abandons Dauphiné on final day after losing contact on first climb
The 19-year-old had sounded a bullish note about his decision to race on after his crash on stage 7, but his injuries proved too much on the first climb of the final day of the Dauphiné.
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Paul Seixas has abandoned the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on the final stage after being dropped on the day’s first climb, the Col du Pré.
The 19-year-old was a faller early on stage 7, though he succeeded in rejoining the peloton after a long chase with his Decathlon CMA CGM team before conceding a little over a minute on the final climb of the Grand Colombier.
Despite cuts to his hand and elbow that appeared to hinder his bike handling, Seixas opted to start stage 8, which he began in sixth place overall, 1:54 down on yellow jersey Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
Stage 8 began with the ascent of the Col du Pré and Seixas was quickly in difficulty on the climb. He was distanced from the yellow jersey group, and he withdrew from the race over the other side.
Seixas is due to make his Tour de France debut in July, where he will be the youngest participant since the 1930s.
Before the start in Beaufort, Seixas had downplayed his chances of competing for overall victory at the Dauphiné while stressing the importance of riding the stage as part of his preparation for the Tour de France.
“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 would last 32km before pulling the pin on his Dauphiné and turning his thoughts towards his Tour build-up.
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