But he surely would have exchanged that distinction for the 1:21 he lost to the day’s winner, pre-race co-favourite Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates–XRG), a gap he was never going to make up on the final stage, despite the approximately 4,000 metres of climbing across its 120 km. But, as it turned out, he didn’t have the chance; the fatigue and injuries from the previous day were impossible to overcome, and Seixas abandoned the race on Sunday, after falling behind on the first climb. That left the race at del Toro’s mercy, and he won in dominating style.
“I took too many risks”
Saturday’s crash came with 96.6 km left to ride in the stage, on the descent from the Côte de Saint-Maurice-de-Rotherens, shortly after the main part of the descent had been neutralised due to loose gravel on the road. The incident occurred before live pictures from the race were available, but photos showed Seixas lying among shrubs and bushes, with his helmet off and clearly in discomfort.
By the time he got back on the bike – with abrasions over much of his body and blood staining his white kit – he was 3 minutes behind the peloton. That disadvantage gradually ballooned to 4 minutes with 82 km left to ride as he worked to get up to speed. When teammates Daan Hoole and Stefan Bisseger started leading him back, the gap began to come down.
Each of his teammates took part in the chase, with fellow Frenchman Aurélien Paret-Peintre leading him up the Lacets du Grand Colombier climb (7.1 km @ 8.4%) and 21-year-old Léo Bisiaux helping Seixas overcome the final 30 seconds of the gap, as he came back to the peloton 36.5 km from the finish, after a high-speed chase of 60 km.
But the effort had been too much. Left without a teammate on the brutal final climb, the Beyond Category (HC) Grand Colombier (8.4 km @ 10.2%), he rode the final 5 km under his own steam, with Lidl-Trek’s Mattias Skjelmose on his wheel. And when Skjelmose’s teammate, Juan Ayuso, and then del Toro attacked, he was unable to respond. Del Toro soon caught Ayuso and easily beat him to the line.
“I said to myself, ‘it’s over, I’m never coming back’,” Seixas said afterwards. “But what my teammates did today was crazy. I could barely hold the handlebars. But on the final climb, I said to myself, ‘I’m going to give my all until the end for these five guys who sacrificed everything for me’.”
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The teenager took full responsibility for the crash, saying, “An error on my part. I have no excuse. I went into a corner too quickly. I’d become used to overtaking riders on descents to move up without using energy, and voila, that’s not necessarily a risk-free strategy. Today I paid for it. I took too many risks. I misjudged the corner.”
He went on to say, “I was dead when I got back in [the peloton]. But I just dug in and tried to regain the maximum strength that I had left. I’m not proud of myself. No, I’m proud of my team.”
It was a loss that, in the end, may well be considered a win because of his and his team’s remarkable performance on the chase and because it was another step on the learning curve that will perhaps make him the great rider he seems destined to become.
Going into the big final stage, Seixas sat in sixth place, 1:54 behind the surprise leader, the 21-year-old Australian Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe), 1:12 behind second-place Matteo Jorgenson (Visma–Lease a Bike) and ‘only’ 1:05 behind del Toro, a pretty remarkable result considering how bad it could have been. But in the end, it was in vain.
Del Toro again wins easily
“For sure, I feel quite bad, but it’s the last day; we’re going to give it all today,” Seixas said at the beginning of Sunday’s stage 8. But it wasn’t to be. His leaving the race was a blow not only to his ambitions but also to fans of the sport eager to see what the teenager could produce on a difficult stage race ahead of the Tour de France. Fingers crossed that he will recover quickly and ride the Tour. On the other hand, the rash move that led to the crash perhaps shows that he is still too young and inexperienced to ride in a race that will be at least three times as taxing and difficult as the Tour Auvergne was.
His departure also took much of the suspense out of that final stage, though there were fireworks on the final climb of the race, to the HC Plateau de Solaison (11.3 km @ 9.1%). Del Toro made the first attack on the ascent, 8.8 km from the finish, while Ayuso and Jorgenson held their fire, the Spaniard perhaps remembering his error of the previous day when he went too early on the Grand Colombier and was overhauled by del Toro. Tuckwell appeared to be dropping out of podium contention, though he had help in the form of the strong Maxim Van Gils.
Ayuso finally attacked, but was unable to make inroads into del Toro’s lead and finished 1:00 adrift, followed closely by the onrushing Tobias Halland Johannessen, at 1:02. Jorgenson blew up on the climb and was eventually caught by Tuckwell and Van Gils, finishing 10th, at 1:43, the same time as the young Aussie. In the final GC standings, the Visma rider ended the race off the podium, in fourth, 1:36 behind del Toro, with Tuckwell in second, 0:54 adrift, and Ayuso sitting third, at 1:17.
It was a disappointing performance for Jorgenson, who is slated to play a key support role for Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour. His UAE counterpart, del Toro, was far superior. He has now won all three of the WorldTour stage races he has ridden this season, adding this victory to his successes at the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico. On any other team besides Visma and UAE, he would be the leader and the main Tour de France rider. Think about that when the Tour begins.
All those breakaways
The first half of the race, formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné, was all about breakaways that made it to the finish, as the GC riders and their teams saved themselves for the three mountain stages at the end. The exception was the stage 3 team time trial, which was won by Visma–Lease a Bike, giving Jorgenson a 45-second advantage over Seixas and 1 minute over del Toro.
Otherwise, the first half of the race was noteworthy for Alex Baudin’s impressive solo victory on stage 1, which gave him his first WorldTour victory and the race leader’s yellow jersey. He held on to the jersey until Friday’s stage 6, the first mountain stage, which passed through his hometown of Albertville.
Tuckwell took the yellow jersey from him on that stage, when he was part of a breakaway that was allowed to go to the finish, with Van Gils taking the win, Tuckwell finishing third, at 6 seconds, and the main GC riders coming in 3:15 and more behind the winner. But the real drama was to come the next day.
Results 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, stage 8: Beaufort to Plateau de Solaison (120 km)
- Isaac del Toro, UAE Team Emirates–XRG 3:35:07
- Juan Ayuso, Lidl-Trek +1:00
- Tobias Halland Johannessen, Uno-X Mobility +1:02
- Mattias Skjelmose, Lidl-Trek +1:31
- Cristián Rodríguez, XDS Astana “
- Carlos Rodríguez, Netcompany INEOS +1:36
- Maxim Van Gils Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe +1:43
- Luke Tuckwell, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe “
- Cian Uijtdebroeks, Movistar “
- Matteo Jorgenson, Visma–Lease a Bike “
Final General Classification 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- Isaac del Toro, UAE Team Emirates–XRG 29:35:05
- Luke Tuckwell, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe +0:54
- Juan Ayuso, Lidl-Trek +1:17
- Matteo Jorgenson, Visma–Lease a Bike +1:36
- Tobias Halland Johannessen, Uno-X Mobility +1:46
- Mattias Skjelmose, Lidl-Trek +2:41
- Cian Uijtdebroeks, Movistar +3:11
- Cristián Rodríguez, XDS Astana +3:15
- José Félix Parra, Caja Rural–Seguros RGA +6:25
- Guillaume Martin, Groupama–FDJ United +7:21
