{"id":2051622,"date":"2026-07-20T00:28:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T21:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2051622"},"modified":"2026-07-20T00:28:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T21:28:32","slug":"fight-for-the-future-del-toro-duels-with-seixas-as-tour-podium-battle-heats-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2051622","title":{"rendered":"Fight for the Future: Del Toro Duels with Seixas as Tour Podium Battle Heats Up"},"content":{"rendered":"
The scrap for the Tour de France podium is set to become a frenzied battle, with Jonas Vingegaard\u2019s unexpected exit from the race heightening uncertainty and opening up wild possibilities for a range of riders.<\/p>\n
Remco Evenepoel made a big bid for second overall\u2014or, maybe, just maybe, if Tadej Poga\u010dar undergoes a dramatic collapse, the final yellow jersey\u2014with a breakthrough first Tour road race win on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Belgian outsprinted Poga\u010dar 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\u2019s time trial.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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He finished third on the stage, 52 seconds ahead of Seixas, and leaped from seventh to third overall.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s withdrawal had Del Toro not stolen a march on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tackled the climb at my own pace. I probably could have pushed a bit more at times, I hesitated too much,\u201d he admitted, according to l\u2019Equipe.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end, I still finished strong. It\u2019s still a good climb, and I\u2019m still in the running for the overall, so it\u2019s all good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seixas is just 19 years of age, the youngest Tour starter since 1937.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar holds back, loses stage<\/h2>\nPoga\u010dar was very strong but messages conducted over race radio saw him ultimately hold back (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Del Toro is, at 22, the fifth-youngest rider in this year\u2019s race. He is also eligible for the distinctive white jersey for the best young rider and wrested that off Seixas\u2019 shoulders with his performance on Sunday.<\/p>\n
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Poga\u010dar 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I go progressive?\u201d Poga\u010dar said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t drop me,\u201d replied Del Toro, causing the yellow jersey wearer to back off.<\/p>\n\n
Evenepoel went on to take the stage ahead of the two riders, despite being outnumbered; Poga\u010dar may well regret holding back.<\/p>\n
The gesture was very appreciated, though.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is crazy that this guy really wants to commit to help me,\u201d Del Toro said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really tried to commit today. Maybe I did mistakes in the final, but I am super happy with how it went.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need to do a little bit better in the final and everything will be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was a little bit of a tricky roundabout,\u201d he said, \u201cit was not very good, the signaling. So the first guys of Visma didn\u2019t take maybe the best option, and then we follow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I needed to decide if I crash myself or go into Tadej, so I decided to crash myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was pretty much okay, honestly,\u201d Del Toro said. \u201cBut then after going in rhythm and all this, I started to feel pain in my back and left leg.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I used up a few shots\u2019<\/h2>\nSeixas lose the tussle for the white jersey but he\u2019ll be back (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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That\u2019s crucially important for the peloton, including these two riders.<\/p>\n
Del Toro is racing his third Grand Tour, having taken second overall in the 2025 Giro and 36th in the 2024 Vuelta.<\/p>\n
Seixas, in contrast, has never competed more than eight days in a row. He\u2019s in unchartered waters at the moment but is swimming rather than sinking.<\/p>\n
Fourth overall in the Tour at 19 is a stunning display, and one he takes great encouragement from.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, I\u2019m happy. I think I had a good performance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, it wasn\u2019t 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\u2019s a few precious seconds I could have saved.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a shame, but that\u2019s how it is, we focus on the positive. I\u2019ve managed to stay solid so far, and I\u2019ve recovered well. I hope the third week goes just as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2281515545.jpg”] Shane Stokes Updated July 19, 2026 06:33PM The scrap for the Tour de France podium is set to become a frenzied battle, with Jonas Vingegaard\u2019s 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\u2014or, maybe, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2051622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2051622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051622\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2051622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2051622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2051622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Poga\u010dar](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286774553.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
![\"Seixas](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8B_4011.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")