'We limited the damage well' - Seixas makes light of early time loss at Tour de France
Paul Seixas declared himself satisfied with his first act as a Tour de France rider even though he lost 39 seconds to yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) in the stage 1 time trial in Barcelona.
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The 19km test was run off according to ASO’s new rules, which saw times taken individually, and that tweak likely saved the 19-year-old from bigger losses here. His Decathlon CMA CGM squad was off the pace on the flat opening section, hitting the third time check in ninth place, 29 seconds down on Visma, but Seixas fared better when he struck out alone on the hilly final section.
Although he conceded another 10 seconds to Vingegaard there, he did enough to haul Decathlon to a sixth-place finish on the stage. In the overall standings, Seixas lies 10th, 39 seconds behind Vingegaard and 27 down on defending champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
“It’s a time trial and we’re really in our own little world, so it’s a bit different. It’s hard to describe the emotions during a team time trial, we’re fully focused,” Seixas said, according to CyclismActu.
“I felt good, and I’m happy to be here. There was no real question of pacing ourselves as it was quite short. It was all-out and we just went for the best possible time.”
Seixas is the youngest rider to line up at the Tour since 1937, but his tender years haven’t dampened home expectations after a season that has yielded victories at Itzulia Basque Country and Flèche Wallonne, as well as a spirited second place behind Pogacar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Although Seixas lost ground to all of his most touted podium rivals, he struck an upbeat note about the day.
“We limited the damage well today and I’m pleased with how it felt,” Seixas said. “We were expecting gaps like that. I think we put in a good time trial today and did the best we could.”
There could well be another GC shake-up in the finale of stage 2, which again brings the peloton to the hills around Montjuïc. The race already touches the Pyrenees on stage 3 and the Tourmalet features on stage 6.
“I’ll try to see how things go for the first road stage, we’ll get a feel for how the race is going,” said Seixas. “I’m obviously looking forward to things really getting going in the mountains. I think everyone’s happy. We’re in top form. I hope it’s going to be a great battle.”
Result: Tour de France stage 1
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