Five months after fracturing his pelvis, Van Gils wins again on the day that Seixas issues a serious warning for the Tour

He Belgian cyclist Maxim Van Gils has achieved a great victory in the sixth stage of the Tour Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes, in which the Australian Luke Tuckwell has assaulted the leadership

Spectacular and highly contested battle in the sixth round of the Tour Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes, a day of 182.3 kilometers, with four mountain passes and the last two in a row of first category at the end. An assault that has caused a real stir in the general classification and that has served to see how the strength of the great favorites for victory in the general standing is, with two very tough stages remaining; reading that must always be done in Tour de France code.

A day when I started with the retirement of Wout Van Aert after winning the previous day and in which a luxurious and very large breakaway was formed, in which there were seven Spanish cyclists: Torres, Rodríguez, Castrillo, García Pierna, Parra, Darder and Díaz. It was quickly seen that the winner of the day was going to emerge from this escape and that today another runner was going to wear the leader’s jersey.

As it is written in every self-respecting stage, as the end of the day approached, the members of the breakaway began to disintegrate, while behind Paul Seixas’s Decathlon team set the pace.

The stage was going to be decided in the chain of the two final first category ports: Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine (11.6 km at 4.9%) and the outcome in Côte de Crest-Voland (5.9 km at 7.5%). In the last ascension, Van Gils, Johannessen and Tuckwell They just broke the escape, with Pablo Torres trying to connect with them, which in the end did not succeed.

Behind, Paul Seixas launched a devastating attack that only the Mexican could follow Isaac del Toro. The American Matteo Jorgenson He held on as long as he could and from behind Juan Ayusoalong with his partner in the Lidl-Trek, Mattias Skjelmose, they were looking for a not so crazy rate of ascension.

Johannessen was the first to move in the final meters, but Van Gils won the game in the end, achieving a major victory five months after fracturing his pelvis in the Classic from Jaén.

The Australian Tuckwell He has improved eleven places in the general classification and now leads the race, with Seixas now seventh, 3’04” behind the Red Bull team rider, with Juan Ayuso stuck to his wheel.

colossal challenge

This Saturday, penultimate stage. Short and brutal, 133.3 kilometers, between La Bridoire and the Grand Colombier, special category pass (8.4 km at 10.2%) that will put an end to a very hard day and a lot of suffering after five previous passes. Pay attention to what you can do Paul Seixas.