Update: Paul Seixas has now abandoned the race - here's our full story on his exit: Paul Seixas abandons the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
After barely being able to stand at the finish of Saturday's extraordinary stage, Paul Seixas has reported for the start of the final stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Despite his bloodied act of defiance on Saturday, there were fears that Seixas might not see the race through to the end, once the adrenaline wore off and his injuries caught up with him.
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However, those fears were allayed on Sunday morning, and in swashbuckling style.
"Don't worry," Seixas said as he was filmed walking from his hotel to his team bus on Sunday morning. "I'll be at the start."
Someone then asks Seixas directly if he'll be setting off again, to which, climbing onto the bus, he replies: "Always. We don't give up."
Seixas staged a stunning fightback from an early crash on Saturday's penultimate stage, somehow plugging a four-minute gap during a furious 60km chase with his teammates, and then fighting to seventh on the summit finish despite barely being able to hold the handlebars.
Footage at the finish showed Seixas limping to the podium to collective his combativity award, but not before he had to be hauled to his feet by his father. He said he suffered abrasions to both arms and legs but indicated that his hands took the brunt of the fall as he slid face first onto the tarmac.
Seixas speaks at the start of the stage
Seixas later spoke to the media at the start of the final stage.
"For sure I feel quite bad, but it's the last day – we're going to give it all today," he said.
Asked if it was wise to carry on, he added: "I have nothing broken. Also I'm taking this race as part of my preparation for the Tour de France, so to get some good intensity in today is important."
Seixas looked dead and buried yesterday when he crashed but while he might be battered and bruised now, he's not yet out of the running, sitting sixth overall, 1:54 down on yellow jersey Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and 1:05 down on fellow pre-race favourite Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Sunday's finale is an explosive brute, measuring just 120km but packing in four major mountain ascents and finishing up at the Plateau de Solaison.
Asked about his ambitions, Seixas kept that open: "Dig in, then see how I feel as the day goes on. Today is about testing myself.
"It's going to be very complicated but nothing is impossible. I'm going to fight to the end as best as possible."
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