'I was where I should be' - Paul Seixas passes first Tour de France mountain test on Tourmalet

Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) passed the first major Tour de France mountain test in the Pyrenees, proving he can fight for a podium place behind Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Seixas finished 2:57 down on Pogačar on stage 6 but raced with maturity beyond his 19 years. When the stage exploded with five kilometres of the Col du Tourmalet to climb, Seixas let Pogačar go and focused on catching Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) before the summit.

When other riders caught them, Seixas finished in the podium contenders group and even clashed with Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) before crossing the line in fifth place, between the squabbling Red Bull teammates Remco Evenepoel and Lipowitz.

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Pogačar produced one of the career defining performances of his career after his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates dominated the stage. Seixas was mobbed beyond the finish line by the French media, who hang on his every word.

French President Emmanuel Macron followed the stage in a Tour vehicle and was at the finish to make sure he got his moment in the Seixas spotlight.

"We have high hopes. I think he can still achieve great things," Macron told French television, also praising compatriot Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), who is also in the top 10.

"What they did, hanging on, is magnificent. After the Dauphiné, we were worried but he [Seixas] delivered. I hope he wins one or more stages and maintains this good ranking, and even goes higher."

Seixas was more modest and balanced.

"It was very tough but honestly, I think it went pretty well," Seixas said before quickly descending 20km down the valley to the solace of his Decathlon CMA CGM team bus.

"I managed my climb and voilà, I got a nice little fifth place at the finish. That's not bad. Tadej was very strong, congratulations to him. I was where I should be."

Seixas' only frustration was for US rider Kuss.

"I'm just a little annoyed by Kuss, who's been doing all sorts of crazy things in the sprint," he said, without explaining further.

Seixas moved up to sixth overall but was 3:55 down on Pogačar. However, he was definitely in the fight for the podium and only 28 seconds down on third-placed Del Toro, and only 1:13 behind second-placed Vingegaard.

Seixas will be able to recover from his early Tour de France efforts during stage 7 to Bordeaux and stage 8 to Bergerac before the race heads into the Massif Central and the riders enjoy the first rest day on Monday.

Decathlon will protect Seixas but their sprint squad will work for Olav Kooij as he looks for a second sprint win and defects the spotlight away from Seixas.

"We're happy, it was a big Pyrenean stage, one of the first since the start. Our plan worked well. Paul is where he should be and we're very pleased with that," Decathlon Team Manager Dominique Serieys told French radio RMC.

"We still need to be cautious, the Tour de France is long. We'll see tonight how this stage went for Paul, but we're on track."

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