"I expect Matteo Jorgenson..." - Paul Seixas names Visma leader as the danger man as he begins recovery mission at Auvergne
Cycling
The Tour Auvergne-Rhônes-Alpes arrives to the mountains once again this Friday afternoon and in the center of attention will be Paul Seixas, the rider everyone will keep an eye on as the race tackles its first summit finish of the week.
“Yes, no doubt we want to make the race tougher today. Then we expect a war of attrition and it’ll be a good day to test ourselves,” he told Cycling Pro Net when asked about the start of a sequence of three decisive stages for the GC.
Although the summit finish is the race’s first major test, Seixas does not expect big gaps among the contenders. “It’s not very hard, so there you go, we’re not expecting major differences today. But the goal is to test the legs and see how they react.”
Asked about the possibility of attacking, the Frenchman chose not to reveal his plans. “We’ll see.” The stage is mostly flat however, but features a technical descent straight into the final 5.7-kilometer climb to Crest-Voland, which averages just over 7% average gradient.
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All about the legs, not the tactics
Beyond the tactical moves that may unfold during the day, Seixas believes the mountains will force a selection based mainly on each rider’s power.
“I think there won’t be much psychological warfare from now on, it’ll all be about power,” he said. For the Frenchman, the most decisive stages are still to come. “We can look at the two stages after today’s, it’s going to be very hard. So now it’s really about testing ourselves today to see how we perform in the coming days.”
Seixas has a gap of of 48 seconds back on Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley; and 45 seconds to regain on Matteo Jorgenson if he wants to win the French race. Whilst the final three stages all feature summit finishes and opportunities to take time, it is no easy task - whilst the likes of Juan Ayuso, Mattias Skjelmose and Isaac del Toro are also to be taken into consideration.
The atmosphere around the young French rider also came up in the conversation. Every day, large numbers of fans gather at his team bus for autographs and to show their support, a situation he admits he is relishing.
“Yes, it’s impressive, there are so many people and we expected it, a Frenchman in France, especially close to home, is always special, but it’s great and I’m really happy there’s so much enthusiasm.”
Seixas eyes Matteo Jorgenson
“I think there are a few [riders] who are going to be very strong today, so we’ll see. I think today will be very different from the next two.”
The Frenchman explained that the stage profile suits riders with different characteristics to those likely to make the difference in the big mountain days scheduled for the weekend. “It’s a fairly short effort, 10 to 15 minutes. The next few days will be real mountain racing.”
Paul Seixas, a Decathlon CMA CGM star.
Among the favourites, he singled out Matteo Jorgenson. “I expect Matteo Jorgenson to perhaps be better today than in the coming days and I think he’ll be very strong.” An assessment based on previous references. “Knowing that I raced a bit against him at the Ardèche Classique and he was very strong in this kind of effort.”
He also included riders such as Juan Ayuso, Isaac del Toro and Alex Baudin among the main candidates. Even so, Seixas feels this stage presents more unknowns than those to come. “Afterwards we’ll see who can join the battle, but today I think it will be more open than the next few days.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- JV is really slighting himself with not doing the 1 dayers.. 🤷
leedorney02-11-2026 - Watch the interview on youtube. I don't speak French. I do speak English and Spanish and you can hear it in his voice. Years ago LeMond had real personal problems I imagine in no small part because of Armstrong. then Armstrong goes round "full blast" re: LeMond having drinking and drug problems. The same way Andreu was expelled from mainstream cycling so was LeMond. On the positive side the clips of the ride and chatting with old teammates and was good. To seemed like a fun day and experience and good reason brush up his French.atom02-11-2026
- and another no-news article around the ‚2 tokyo jogging rounds‘ headline, this time spiced with some days old ‚news‘ that the LA and japan vacation trips come during or after the tdf route release. i am getting more and more annoyed by this time-stealing no-news crap. but who am i to complain? nobody forces me to come back for more ‚news‘ day after day …Ketterechts02-11-2026
- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
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