As France prepares to say au revoir on the finish of the ultimate stage of Sunday’s closing stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné to Romain Bardet, their standard-bearer within the Tour de France for the perfect a part of a decade, it’s changing into shortly acquainted with the precocious expertise of 18-year-old Paul Seixas, who jumped two locations up the GC in Saturday’s queen stage to Valmeinier 1800.
Whereas it’s nonetheless far too early to anoint Seixas as a Grand Tour contender in ready, it’s quickly changing into clear that {the teenager} from Lyon is blessed with extraordinary skill and maturity. These qualities have been amply demonstrated on the street to Valmeinier 1800, notably on the ultimate climb, the place Seixas had teammate Bruno Armirail set the tempo for him on the entrance of a yellow jersey group containing Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and several other different of the peloton’s superstars.
Chatting with CyclingPro.Web on the stage end, Seixas admitted that he’d struggled in the course of the day however mentioned that he was delighted with how he had stood as much as the problem of racing with the perfect stage racers. “Actually, I managed it nicely. It was extraordinarily robust, each mentally and bodily,” he mentioned.
“From the primary cross, it was full throttle. I didn’t really feel nice from the beginning. For the primary half-hour, it was OK. In the direction of the tip of the cross, I wasn’t feeling so good. I instructed myself that I ought to see the way it went on the Croix de Fer. I received my legs again there when the tempo slowed down a bit.”
Seixas mentioned that his key goal on the ultimate climb to Valmeinier 1800 was to keep away from exploding fully. “I felt that I’d suffered on the earlier climbs, however that’s regular and I feel I managed it rather well,” he mentioned, earlier than happening to clarify why Armirail had set the tempo for him there.
“The technique was primarily for him to guard me, after which I most popular to go at my very own tempo, relatively than at a loopy tempo of Visma’s the place they have been going full gasoline. I didn’t need to give every part straight away as a result of I didn’t know if I used to be going to have the ability to maintain on. Ultimately, it went fairly nicely.”
For first-year professional Seixas, day by day of racing is about gaining expertise, not solely of rival groups and riders, but in addition of the climbs and situations. He admitted that he’d struggled within the warmth on the Valmeinier 1800 stage, “particularly on the finish. If you’re going full throttle, you’re feeling it ten instances extra.”
As that have grows, so too is his confidence. He’s risen via the GC rankings on each stage on the Dauphiné and goes into the ultimate day seeking to defend sixth place. “For positive, I’ve received a whole lot of confidence. The riders that I’m up in opposition to are guys I used to see on TV who’re actually sturdy, and now I’ve managed to stick with them and be a part of the competition. I really feel actually proud about that.”
