Can Seixas join elite club including Pogacar and Pinot? - Col du Grand Colombier list of winners and how he almost won on climb before

Paul Seixas and Isaac Del Toro are among the two leading contenders to light up the iconic Col du Grand Colombier as the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes finishes up the brutal climb for the first time. Saturday's stage seven features six categorised ascents and a gruelling finale but an opportunity for one to write their name in history.

While Luke Tuckwell holds the yellow jersey after a breakaway snatch and grab on stage 6, Seixas has expressed his desire to make the race hard on Saturday, seemingly setting the scene for a battle between the overall leaders on the legendary slopes.

Twice being used as a stage finish at the Tour de France, and a commonly used finale in the Tour de l'Ain, the beastly climb has a rich history and been the scene of several memorable battles either during a stage or for the win. Little may know that Seixas came close already to etching his name on the list of previous winners.

In 2023, Andrew August - now riding with Netcompany INEOS - took a victory in the Ain Bugey Valromey Tour at junior level. He beat none other than Seixas himself in a two-up sprint to the line as the Frenchman, then 16-years-old narrowly missed out on victory.

August and Seixas put considerable distance into the rest of the field in the race, with Seixas already displaying his immense potential as he kept pace with August, a year ahead of him in the juniors, to battle for the victory.

That same year, Michał Kwiatkowski raised his arms at the top of the climb, besting breakaway rivals to take a resounding win. Back in 2021, the Tour de l'Avenir took on the climb as Tobias Johannessen, second place on Friday's stage, took the win - beating now familiar names such as Filippo Zana, Thomas Gloag and Carlos Rodriguez in the under-23 race.

Tadej Pogacar won on Colombier on his way to his first Tour de France triumph back in 2020. Primoz Roglic, second in that 2020 Tour, also won on the iconic climb at that year's Tour de l'Ain.

Other famous winners on its slopes include French hero Thibaut Pinot in 2011 and later 2019 while John Gadret, David Delrieu and Sergei Sukhoruchenkov.