“There is nothing to be nervous about” - Danish expert calms Paul Seixas Tour de France fears after Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes abandon

Paul Seixas’ Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ended on the first climb of the final stage, but Danish Eurosport cycling expert Jesper Worre does not believe the abandon should trigger major concern before the Tour de France.

The Decathlon CMA CGM Team rider stepped off less than 24 hours after his heavy crash on stage 7, when he remounted, chased back through the race and still finished seventh on the Grand Colombier. Seixas had started the final day sixth overall, 1:54 behind Luke Tuckwell, but the damage from the previous afternoon was clear almost immediately on the road to Plateau de Solaison.

Worre, speaking on Eurosport Denmark, saw the decision to stop as the sensible end to a weekend that had already asked plenty of the 19-year-old.

“He had started with the hope that the extent of his injuries was not worse than allowing him to fight for the stage win,” Worre said. “But he had to let go already on the first climb, and then the team probably called a stop to it.”

Seixas’ abandon removed one of the main names from the final-stage GC fight, but Worre looked back to the previous day’s chase as the stronger indication of how the Frenchman had handled the setback.

“He and the whole team showed exceptional backbone yesterday,” said Worre. “I think that is what people should focus on. He showed great class yesterday by staying calm. It was only after he was bandaged up that you could see how big the injuries were. What stamina as a 19-year-old.”

The crash had left visible marks on Seixas before he returned to the start on Sunday. He had already lost time in the overall battle on stage 7, but his ride to the finish kept him inside the top 10 on the stage and left him with a place in the GC picture before the final mountain day.

That challenge ended quickly on stage 8, with Seixas slipping towards the rear of the peloton, receiving attention from the medical car and then abandoning before the final climbs had decided the race.

The Tour de France is now the next major reference point for Seixas, who has been one of Decathlon’s standout young riders in the build-up to July. Worre played down fears that the abandon represented a deeper problem. “It suggests that it is no more than knocks that he has suffered,” he said. “And then he can continue training towards the Tour de France.”

Worre expects Seixas to feel the effects of the fall in the short term, but not to lose the thread of his preparation. “But he will be really exciting to follow,” he said. “He will feel the scrapes for the first week, but the best thing you can do is keep training, because then the blood flows through the body. And then everything heals faster. So I actually think he will continue training.”

Seixas leaves the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes without the final-stage GC fight he had hoped for. His next test is recovery before the Tour de France, after a final weekend that turned from a podium push into damage limitation.