“We built everything around this moment” - Key mountain domestique of Paul Seixas “devastated” after surprise Tour de France snub from Decathlon

Gregor Muhlberger has revealed his devastation at missing Decathlon CMA CGM Team’s Tour de France selection after building his post-Giro programme around a place on the start line in Barcelona.

The Austrian had just helped Felix Gall to second overall at the Giro d’Italia, while also finishing 15th himself, and had skipped both the Tour de Suisse and national championships to focus on Decathlon’s altitude camp in France.

With the 19-year-old French prodigy Paul Seixas now heading towards his own Tour de France debut, one of the team’s proven mountain domestiques will be watching from home.

“After the Giro d’Italia, we built everything around this moment,” Muhlberger wrote on Instagram. “I skipped the Tour de Suisse and Nationals. Instead, I put everything into the preparation at the team altitude camp in France. Full focus, full discipline, no shortcuts and everything was going to plan.”

Muhlberger’s Giro gave Decathlon another reminder of his value in a Grand Tour mountain unit. Gall finished second overall in Rome, and Muhlberger combined support work with his own top-15 finish on GC.

Seixas is set for one of the most watched French Tour debuts in years, and Decathlon’s climbing support around him will come under scrutiny once the race reaches the mountains. Muhlberger had prepared as though Barcelona was the next target after the Giro.

“Which makes this even harder to accept: sometimes sport gives you no warning and no chance to show what you prepared for,” he continued. “I won’t be on the start line in Barcelona, only watching and cheering for my teammates from home. It’s devastating, but that’s sport.”

For Decathlon, the omission removes a rider who had already shown his value in a three-week race this season. Muhlberger’s Giro was not simply a finishing ride. He helped Gall to the podium and still came away with 15th overall, exactly the kind of climbing depth teams look for around their leaders in July.

Muhlberger did not race the Tour de Suisse or nationals, instead putting his focus into the team’s altitude camp in France. By his own account, the preparation was going to plan.

Decathlon’s final eight will now head to Barcelona without him. Muhlberger will begin July outside the team bus, after building his summer around a Tour de France place that never came.