Paul Seixas smiles when Tour de France is mentioned after battle with Ayuso and Almeida in the Algarve
Paul Seixas launched an all-or-nothing attack in the final stage of the Volta ao Algarve, but it had no impact on the Alto do Malhão. The talented Frenchman saw both the stage win and the overall victory slip away to his rival Juan Ayuso. But now the question is: will these two face each other again in the Tour de France this summer? Seixas laughs when the Tour comes up.
His stage win and his time trial earlier this week turned heads in the peloton. Seixas narrowly beat Ayuso on Alto da Foia and lost only seven seconds to the Spaniard in a time trial of nearly 20 kilometres. The leader of Decathlon CMA CGM openly spoke about winning the overall, but ultimately finished second; sandwiched between Tour favorite Ayuso and Giro favorite João Almeida.
"It’s really amazing to stand on the podium with those guys. If you had told me this last year, with two such top riders and such a strong start list here, I would have been really happy. Now my goal has been achieved for this race, and I need to keep improving to perform even better," Seixas explains to the camera of Wielerflits.
The question hanging in the air: will Seixas make his Tour de France debut at the age of 19? He could meet Juan Ayuso again there. When the Tour is mentioned, he first laughs, then continues seriously. "I don’t know right now if the Tour de France will be part of my season. That’s up to the team, not me," says the Frenchman. "So, for now, I don’t have an answer."
Behind Ayuso and Seixas, the third place at the Volta ao Algarve went to home favorite João Almeida. He mainly lost time in the time trial compared to his rivals, but the UAE Emirates XRG leader can live with third place. "I can leave here with confidence," he tells Wielerflits. "My form is good, although there are always things to improve."
"This is part of the plan, because my main goal is in May. If I were already in top shape now, it would be hard to improve further," Almeida laughs, referring to the Giro d’Italia he is going to race. "I can work toward that with confidence."
