Paul Seixas has 'no fear' as he faces biggest mountain test at Dauphiné

The Australian moved into the lead on a wild stage 6 where Decathlon CMA CGM were the only team to miss the 60-man break that forged clear in the opening kilometres. 

Seixas’ team spent the day chasing, and although the Frenchman attacked on the final climb to Crest-Voland, he came home more than three minutes down on Tuckwell, the surprise new race leader.

“It was definitely a complicated day for up,” Seixas told CyclingPro.netbefore stage 7. “We missed the breakaway, the big group that went ahead. We tried to put Stefan [Bissegger] and Daan [Hoole] in it, but in the end, they had to ride all day, and frankly, they did a great job to keep them close. 

“We lost quite a bit of time, but in the end, it was still a good day because I managed to test myself well and drop all the favourites except Isaac del Toro, so all in all it was still a good day.”

Seixas launched his acceleration with 5km remaining, bringing the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma) with him. While Jorgenson conceded a handful of seconds by the summit, Del Toro was able to match Seixas all the way. 

Del Toro is just 16 seconds down on Seixas in the overall standings, but the 19-year-old downplayed the idea that he feared his challenge in the days ahead.

“No, as I’ve often said, there’s no fear. You can’t let fear exist,” Seixas said. “But Isaac is obviously very strong, and he’s going to be a very good opponent, like the others. Yesterday was one day, today is different, and we’re going to fight to try to get the best result today.”

Seixas enters the final weekend of the rebranded Dauphiné in seventh place overall, 3:06 down on Tuckwell. The Australian neo-pro is a threat for final overall victory, having placed a fine sixth on the Tour de Romandie last month, but Seixas insisted the configuration of the GC hadn’t changed his approach to the Dauphiné’s arduous final weekend, which starts with a summit finish on the hors categorie Grand Colombier on Saturday.

“For sure, there’s no choice,” Seixas said when asked if he would go on the attack. “But it doesn’t matter, because I’d say that today and tomorrow’s stages had been marked already. These are stages to make the difference. That’s where it gets interesting.”