“Decathlon got lucky” - Chris Horner warns Paul Seixas escaped bigger damage after chaotic Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes opener

Paul Seixas left stage 1 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes with only a small time loss to Oscar Onley, but former Vuelta a Espana winner Chris Horner believes Decathlon CMA CGM Team were fortunate the damage was not far worse.

Alex Baudin took the opening victory and the first yellow jersey after attacking from the breakaway on the Cote de Rousset, but Horner’s main focus on his Butterfly Effect YouTube channel was the tactical picture behind. With Seixas isolated late in the stage, Horner argued that several teams had the chance to put the 19-year-old French favourite under far greater pressure.

“At the end of the day, Decathlon got lucky,” Horner said after the stage. “They only lost a few seconds to a GC favourite named Oscar Onley.”

Onley finished in the front chase group, 32 seconds behind Baudin, while Seixas came home 44 seconds down alongside Isaac del Toro, Juan Ayuso, Santiago Buitrago, Matteo Jorgenson and Mattias Skjelmose. For Horner, the gap itself was less important than the way it emerged.

The first problem for Decathlon came before the final attacks even began. Matthew Riccitello abandoned through illness on stage 1, immediately weakening the support structure around Seixas in a race where the Frenchman arrived under major expectation.

Horner felt the loss mattered because Decathlon were already short of a dominant final climbing lieutenant. With Riccitello out, the team had to rely even more heavily on Leo Bisiaux, Nicolas Prodhomme and the rest of a support group that Horner believes still lacks one clear top-level mountain domestique. “You were already cutting it thin,” Horner said of the Decathlon setup around Seixas.

He expanded on that point by arguing that Decathlon’s support depth is good, but not yet at the level where they can afford to waste riders on a stage where they did not need to chase the yellow jersey at all costs. “If you have to rotate, that means you’re not a super-domestique,” Horner said. “You are a good domestique, but not a super-domestique.”

Decathlon had worked early in the stage, but Horner felt their priority should have been clear. With the opening yellow jersey not essential to Seixas’ GC hopes, the team needed to avoid burning riders unnecessarily before the final run-in.

That became more important once the race split behind Baudin. Aurelien Paret-Peintre cramped after coming back into position, leaving Seixas with fewer options, while Bisiaux later followed the move that gained time on the main group.

For Horner, that was the central Decathlon mistake. “You never break the number one rule,” he said. “Leave your team leader isolated and alone.”

Bisiaux eventually finished third on the stage, but Horner was not impressed by the trade-off when Seixas had been left behind in the group of favourites. “Leo Bisiaux, you’re a big knucklehead,” Horner said. “You got yourself third, but means nothing because you lost 15 seconds thereabouts.”

Horner was also critical of the teams around Decathlon. He questioned Pavel Sivakov riding tempo for UAE Team Emirates - XRG on the final climb, arguing that UAE should have attacked Seixas rather than helped control the gap. “At this moment, there is nothing that you care about except for trying to win the stage and gaining time on the race favourite Paul Seixas,” Horner said.

In Horner’s view, Sivakov’s work on the front simply pulled Decathlon along rather than forcing Seixas’ team to respond. He contrasted that with Kevin Vermaerke’s later attack, which he saw as exactly the sort of move UAE should have been looking for. “Kevin Vermaerke is doing the right tactic,” Horner said. “You want to attack the race favourite back there.”

Team Visma | Lease a Bike also came in for criticism after putting riders on the front with Jorgenson still in the group. Horner felt Visma had enough numbers to attack, not ride steadily for a rival who did not need to chase yellow. “You guys are knuckleheads,” Horner said of the approach. “You’ve got to start attacking.”

Horner’s argument was that Jorgenson and Visma did not need to help control the climb for Seixas. If they could force the Decathlon leader to chase later in the race, even through another rider gaining time, that would be more valuable than riding tempo on stage 1.

The final chase group gave Netcompany INEOS a chance to land a bigger early blow through Onley and Kevin Vauquelin. The split itself was valuable, especially once Seixas, Del Toro, Ayuso and others had missed it.

Horner still felt that opportunity was underused. Once Baudin was clearly heading towards the stage win, he argued INEOS should have driven the group instead of allowing attacks and hesitation to reduce the advantage over Seixas. “This is when Oscar Onley starts making some critical mistakes,” Horner said. “The stage is already over. You just want to drive this group and gain as much time as possible.”

Seixas still conceded time, but not enough to change the race dramatically. Baudin took yellow, Bisiaux finished third from the chase group, and Onley gained a small buffer on several GC rivals.

Horner’s verdict was blunt. Decathlon lost a little time, but they avoided the kind of opening-day damage that could have forced Seixas into a far more complicated race with seven stages still to go. In his view, the biggest story behind Baudin’s win was not just who gained seconds, but how many teams missed the chance to make those gaps much larger.