"Strangely, everybody wanted the stage win today..." - Paul Seixas' teammate accuses rival teams of taking advantage of the Frenchman's crash

Stage 7 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was a dramatic day for Decathlon CMA CGM Team, who managed to save the day, but saw Paul Seixas crash and also lose time at the end to the likes of Isaac del Toro and Matteo Jorgenson. Whilst Seixas did not criticize his competition, his young teammate Léo Bisiaux didn't stay quiet on the work done in the peloton.

“It started very fast. The race was then neutralized for a descent with gravel, and the organizers released us again on another descent," Bisiaux detailed to CyclingPro.net. In this descent, with just under 100 kilometers to go, Seixas went down, causing a near-catastrophic situation for th team.

“I think Paul either made a small mistake through a lack of concentration, or there was some contact between the riders. Unfortunately, he crashed at a moment when everyone was a little excited.”

This saw the 19-year old on the ground for several minutes. But there was no decision to abandon the race or give up on a recovery. Instead, the French team gathered and began working towards closing the 4-minute gap that had opened up.

Bisiaux, at the start of the stage, was on the attack and on several occasions was at the front of the race. At a certain point, the call was made to bring him back and help with Seixas' recovery. Briefly, the Frenchman was in the peloton and on the TV broadcast was quite visibly discussing with what was likely a UAE rider.

UAE and Visma were working at the head of the peloton, as did Lidl-Trek later in the stage. There was no absolute push to keep Seixas out of GC contention, as eventually he was able to come back, however it was not made easy for the French team.

Opinions will differ on what was the right course of action, taking into consideration the crash happened at a moment where the race was on, and it looked like Seixas would abandon it. Bisiaux's opinion is not indirect, but instead a direct hit at his rivals.

“It was a bit disappointing in terms of sporting fairness. All the teams started riding. Strangely, everybody wanted the stage win today, while yesterday nobody did," he said in an accusatory tone.

"But that is how it is. We will see tomorrow.” Seixas remains in sixth place in the overall classification, within reach of a top result; whilst Bisiaux himself finished the stage in 12th place despite the immense work he did to close the gap down to the peloton.

“He limited the damage quite well because he produced a huge chase behind," Bisiaux said of Seixas. "He was going quite well, but he had already been forced to make a very big effort. I tried to give everything on the final climb to support him as much as possible.”