“I don’t like how the rules work” - Chris Horner calls for change to cycling’s concussion protocol after Paul Seixas’ Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes drama

Paul Seixas’ bruising chase back after his Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes crash has drawn a pointed warning from Chris Horner, who believes cycling’s post-crash protocol can leave riders facing an unfair sporting penalty once they are allowed to continue.

Seixas crashed heavily on a descent before the Grand Colombier finale, losing several minutes before beginning a long chase back with Decathlon CMA CGM Team team-mates. The 19-year-old eventually rejoined the main GC group, only to lose time again on the final climb as Isaac del Toro rode clear to stage victory.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, former Vuelta a Espana winner Horner made clear he was working from what he saw on the broadcast rather than an official medical explanation. But he said the roadside images, including Seixas stopped with medical staff and his helmet removed, suggested there may have been a concussion check before the Frenchman continued.

“I am assuming there was some kind of concussion protocol,” Horner said. “That is my best guess from 25 years of experience.”

Horner stressed that his criticism was not aimed at the existence of concussion checks. His issue was with what happens once a rider has been assessed, cleared to continue and sent back into a race already moving at full speed. “I love that they have it, but I don’t like how the rules follow afterwards,” he said.

Seixas had already lost a major chunk of time before the chase began. Horner then took issue with the way the race convoy was moved aside as the Decathlon rider and his team-mates tried to make contact with the peloton.

“So you’re going to put this kid Paul Seixas, one of the favourites, and you’re going to make him go through all the protocols,” said Horner. “Have him sitting on the side of the road. Have him dropping time left, right and centre. And now you can’t even let him use the cars, the caravans at the back of the peloton. You can’t even let him use this as a help to make up for the minutes that he had to sit on the side of the road.”

Horner had no issue with riders being stopped and checked after a heavy crash. His criticism centred on the sporting cost once a rider has been permitted to race on. “There needs to be some way that you can at least make up some of that time that they’re holding you on the side of the road,” he argued.

Seixas’ crash came at one of the worst possible moments of the stage. The race was already under pressure after a volatile opening phase, with attacks up the road and GC teams beginning to shape the approach to the Grand Colombier. By the time the Decathlon chase was underway, Horner estimated that the gap had at one point gone out towards four minutes.

Decathlon then used Valentin Paret-Peintre, Nicolas Prodhomme and Leo Bisiaux to drag Seixas back through the race. Horner praised the way the team organised that chase, particularly the decision to drop riders back from the peloton to help rather than leaving Seixas exposed.

The frustration came when the race caravan was not available as part of that chase after the time lost during the roadside check. “I have no problems if you want to allow the caravan of cars to stay at the back of the group and a rider that’s crashed, that’s gone through concussion protocol, can at least use the cars,” he said. “Instead, they pull them out of the way.”

Seixas got back, but not cheaply. Bloodied and scratched from the crash, he reached the Grand Colombier only after Paret-Peintre, Prodhomme and Bisiaux had spent themselves in a chase Horner believes should not have been made harder by the race caravan being pulled aside.