The final mountain stage on Saturday (another ascent up Alpe d’Huez) offers one last chance to overturn the narrow deficit to Del Toro. Seixas has continued to match Del Toro, but neither has yet been able to create a meaningful separation in their contest. Twenty-four seconds is small enough to be overturned through one well-timed attack, a moment of weatkness or the bonus seconds available at the finish. After three weeks of his Tour debut, the final mountain stage will decide whether Seixas leaves with fourth place or becomes the youngest rider in modern cycling to stand on the final podium in Paris.
“It was terrible, grueling. The crowd was going wild, I still have ringing in my ears. It was magical and at the same time one of the hardest days of my life on a bike. The pace was relentless, like every day.
I managed to limit the damage. In the end, my legs weren’t as strong as I’d hoped. It’s still a great performance, though. I’m still in contention for the podium. There’s still tomorrow - it’s going to be very tough and it’ll come down to sheer power. Respect to everyone who’s already finished the stage, it was a real battle.”
-Paul Seixas
The Slovenian set a new record time of 35:27 up the storied climb breaking the record set by Marco Pantani in 1997
Look back: First conqueror of L’Alpe du Huez was Fausto Coppi in 1952
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