"Good luck trying to bring three minutes back" - Luke Plapp thinks Seixas faces uphill battle to catch yellow jersey Tuckwell

Luke Plapp thinks fellow Australian Luke Tuckwell will be hard to catch after taking the yellow jersey as stage 6 threw up a surprise new leader of the Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes. With Saturday's mountain stage to finish on Col du Grand Colombier, the general classification battle takes centre stage.

And while Plapp is battling for his own placing in GC, the Jayco AlUla rider reflected on a "crazy" Friday stage that saw 60 riders get up the road, spoiling a potential GC party for Paul Seixas, Isaac Del Toro and co. as the strongest from the breakaway fought for stage honours and Tuckwell took home the yellow jersey.

The 21-year-old Australian finds himself leading much of the pre-race GC favourites by over two and three minutes, making Saturday's race an intriguing prospect for the Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe man as he holds the prestigious jersey with just two stages remaining.

A strong climber with strong pedigree in junior and Under-23 racing, compatriot Plapp believes it will be hard for the leaders to reel Tuckwell in as he opened up on how the breakaway changed the face of the stage race.

"It was crazy," he told Cycling Pro Net before stage 7. "A lot was out of our control. Of course it would have been nice if I was in the breakaway but I still climbs I think seventh from the GC guys in the bunch. The result on paper is not there but I think I executed the final climb well. But obviously the break changed a lot in the standings."

Above all, Plapp is happy to see Tuckwell take yellow. Spurring memories of his 2024 Paris-Nice as he held the leader's jersey for three days at the age of 23 before a sixth place overall in the French race. Plapp praised a "special" moment for Tuckwell, who noted after the stage that he dedicated the moment to his late sister, who passed away last September.

"It's awesome for Luke. We were on the same junior team. It reminds me of when i got the jersey in Paris-Nice as well at a similar age. It's a super special moment for him. He had some tough times last year as well last year with his family - I'm super happy for him."

Seixas has expressed his desire to make the final stages difficult for the peloton in his pursuit of the overall win, but Plapp sounded a warning for the Decathlon CMA CGM star - who lies 3:06 behind Tuckwell.

"To see him in yellow, when I heard he was in the break, i knew with 100k to go yesterday I knew he would be in yellow. It's super special, I've seen some reports online about what others are saying.

"I think it's going to be hard to catch him. He's a class rider and good luck trying to bring three minutes back."

Jayco AlUla star Plapp reiterated his well wishes to Tuckwell. While also stressing his personal ambitions in the GC fight, he teased that he would lend a hand to Tuckwell if he found himself in the position to do so.

He concluded: "It would be awesome if he could hold yellow. I think I saw somewhere that Seixas took four minutes out of him in ten days at [Ed. Tour de] l'Avenir or something like that. He's got 200k to get three minutes back.

"It will be a good challenge, I'll be going for my best result possible, but I mean tomorrow if there's a chance to help Luke, for sure it would be awesome if he could win the Dauphine [Ed. Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes]."