Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) has abandoned the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, pulling out early on the final stage.
The Frenchman had vowed to fight to the end after his remarkable show of resistance on Saturday, but it appears his injuries caught up with him.
Seixas was dropped from the bunch on the opening climb of the Col du Pré, the first of four major mountains on an explosive 120km route on Sunday.
After the descent, around 30km into the stage, he stopped and climbed into his team car, exiting the race.
There had been doubts over Seixas’ continued participation after his early crash on stage 7, where he staged an extraordinary comeback to plug a four-minute gap then limit his losses on the Grand Colombier summit finish, barely able to grip his handlebars.
He turned up for the start on Sunday morning heavily bandaged but in defiant mood, insisting he’d see it through and even saying “nothing is impossible” with the yellow jersey somehow still not quite out of reach.
But his troubles became apparent early on, and, on a route with absolutely no hiding place, any hopes of another Lazarus-like comeback to possibly win this race were emphatically wiped out.
Seixas was already dropped going uphill on the Col du Pré, but if anything the downhills represented the worst part of the route for him. Having landed on his hands and heavily abraded his arms in Saturday’s crash, he described his pain in gripping the bars and especially trying to handle his bike down fast technical descents.
The adrenaline of the previous day perhaps worn off, Seixas must have realised his body was in no fit state to handle the rigours of the day. And for all the bluster around refusing to throw in the towel, he must have realised it was the sensible thing to do less than three weeks out from the start of the Tour de France.
More to follow
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