Fight for the Future: Del Toro Duels with Seixas as Tour Podium Battle Heats Up

The scrap for the Tour de France podium is set to become a frenzied battle, with Jonas Vingegaard’s unexpected exit from the race heightening uncertainty and opening up wild possibilities for a range of riders.

Remco Evenepoel made a big bid for second overall—or, maybe, just maybe, if Tadej Pogačar undergoes a dramatic collapse, the final yellow jersey—with a breakthrough first Tour road race win on Sunday.

The Belgian outsprinted Pogačar and Isaac Del Toro for victory atop the Plateau de Solaison, his best ever mountain performance. It was an audacious display for Red Bull-Bora-Hangrohe rider, who is likely to pad his advantage over the other riders in Tuesday’s time trial.

Behind him, the tussle for third ramped up a notch with a continuation of the ongoing battle between Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) and French hope Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM).

They had finished together on Saturday, ending the day fourth and seventh overall, but Del Toro wiped out the 31 second difference between them on Sunday with a fine performance on the Solaison.

He finished third on the stage, 52 seconds ahead of Seixas, and leaped from seventh to third overall.

And Seixas? He was gapped on the climb and finished fourth on the stage. He stays fourth overall but would have moved to third following Vingegaard’s withdrawal had Del Toro not stolen a march on him.

“I tackled the climb at my own pace. I probably could have pushed a bit more at times, I hesitated too much,” he admitted, according to l’Equipe.

“At the end, I still finished strong. It’s still a good climb, and I’m still in the running for the overall, so it’s all good.”

Seixas is just 19 years of age, the youngest Tour starter since 1937.

Pogačar holds back, loses stage

Del Toro is, at 22, the fifth-youngest rider in this year’s race. He is also eligible for the distinctive white jersey for the best young rider and wrested that off Seixas’ shoulders with his performance on Sunday.

Pogačar looked like he could have left Seixas behind, and possibly Evenepoel too, but he reined in his accelerations to ensure his teammate would be carried along. In fact he threw away a possible stage win, with an exchange over race radio with the team and with Del Toro showing he wanted to ramp things up.

“Can I go progressive?” Pogačar said.

“Don’t drop me,” replied Del Toro, causing the yellow jersey wearer to back off.

Evenepoel went on to take the stage ahead of the two riders, despite being outnumbered; Pogačar may well regret holding back.

The gesture was very appreciated, though.

“It is crazy that this guy really wants to commit to help me,” Del Toro said.

“I really tried to commit today. Maybe I did mistakes in the final, but I am super happy with how it went.

“We just need to do a little bit better in the final and everything will be perfect.”

It is possible that Del Toro would have been stronger than he was in the finale had he not crashed during the stage. He got caught up in the same fall which took Jonas Vingegaard out of the Tour, and explained afterwards that he hit the deck rather than risk injuring his team leader.

“I think it was a little bit of a tricky roundabout,” he said, “it was not very good, the signaling. So the first guys of Visma didn’t take maybe the best option, and then we follow.

“Then I needed to decide if I crash myself or go into Tadej, so I decided to crash myself.”

That hurt, but Del Toro came out of it a lot better off than Vingegaard, who had to quit the race due to a fractured collarbone.

“I was pretty much okay, honestly,” Del Toro said. “But then after going in rhythm and all this, I started to feel pain in my back and left leg.

“I was happy to commit with the team and stick with the plan, but I had an extra pain today in mind and in the body.”

‘I used up a few shots’

The Tour will have its second rest day on Monday, a chance for tiring riders to recharge somewhat and to get some mental downtime too.

That’s crucially important for the peloton, including these two riders.

Del Toro is racing his third Grand Tour, having taken second overall in the 2025 Giro and 36th in the 2024 Vuelta.

Seixas, in contrast, has never competed more than eight days in a row. He’s in unchartered waters at the moment but is swimming rather than sinking.

Fourth overall in the Tour at 19 is a stunning display, and one he takes great encouragement from.

“Overall, I’m happy. I think I had a good performance,” he said.

“Of course, it wasn’t ideal with the flat at the start [he had a puncture after about thirty kilometers]. I used up a few shots, and at this level, that’s a few precious seconds I could have saved.

“It’s a shame, but that’s how it is, we focus on the positive. I’ve managed to stay solid so far, and I’ve recovered well. I hope the third week goes just as well.”