{"id":752736,"date":"2026-06-22T11:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/752736\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T11:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:16:11","slug":"i-consider-him-on-the-same-level-as-vingegaard-uaes-matxin-blown-away-by-paul-seixas-ahead-of-the-tour-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/752736\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI consider him on the same level as Vingegaard\u201d: UAE’s Matxin blown away by Paul Seixas ahead of the Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nThe Spaniard was particularly impressed by Seixas\u2019s response to the crash that left him several minutes behind the peloton during stage 7<\/a> before he fought his way back into contention. \u201cThe crash he suffered shows that he is not only strong physically but also mentally. Otherwise, he would never have managed that incredible four-minute comeback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what Seixas\u2019s performance means for the upcoming Tour de France, Matxin argued that the young Frenchman deserves to be taken seriously despite never having ridden a Grand Tour. \u201cHe absolutely has to be considered for the general classification. He has never raced a Grand Tour before, but when you show things like that, you cannot be afraid of a three-week race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matxin even compared Seixas\u2019 performances to the level displayed by Jonas Vingegaard earlier in the season. \u201cI consider him on the same level as Vingegaard and what the Dane showed at the Giro. We really cannot underestimate anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

While highlighting Seixas, Matxin was equally pleased with Del Toro\u2019s performance. \u201cOf course, I think we also sent a strong message,\u201d Matxin said. \u201cWe showed that Del Toro\u2019s condition ahead of the Tour is there. What I liked most was that he never became discouraged and never lost sight of the final objective, even considering the breakaway that had completely changed the standings in the first days. Isaac emerged at the end and took the jersey on the final stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Isaac<\/p>\n

Isaac del Toro ahead of stage 5 of the 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes<\/p>\n

Never doubting Del Toro\u2019s potential<\/p>\n

Matxin acknowledged that the race situation was complicated, but insisted the team remained focused on creating the conditions necessary for Del Toro to recover the lost time. \u201cIt was not so much the battle with Ayuso that worried us, but the situations that can develop during a race,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe race evolved in a complicated way because a breakaway gained many minutes. Recovering that time is not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt two stages from the finish we were more than three minutes behind Tuckwell, who had made excellent use of the breakaway. We knew Isaac is an extremely strong rider and could recover the deficit, but we had to put him in a position to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Del Toro finished second at the 2025 Giro d\u2019Italia and will now head to the Tour de France in support of Tadej Pogacar<\/a>. Matxin believes the Mexican already possesses the qualities required to lead a Grand Tour team himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, absolutely. His quality allows him to aspire to anything,\u201d he said. \u201cI have never really liked the word \u2018captain\u2019, although in a big team there obviously have to be hierarchies. What matters to me is that Isaac has every possibility to emerge, which means we can approach the Tour with a Plan B in our pocket. He knows he is capable of winning a Grand Tour, and that is what counts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tour favourites<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to July, Matxin identified the leading contenders. \u201cOn paper, the names are still Pogacar, Vingegaard, Seixas and Evenepoel,\u201d he said. \u201cBut then the race develops in its own way and allows other riders to emerge.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also singled out Juan Ayuso as a rider who impressed him during the Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes. \u201cAyuso impressed me as well. He was very strong and could be a factor. That does not change the fact that the favourites remain those riders.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UAE manager was also asked about the contrasting preparations of Pogacar and Vingegaard. \u201cI do not think there is one best way,\u201d Matxin explained. \u201cIf you want to ride the Giro, you structure the rest of your calendar around that. If you do not want to race another three-week event before the Tour, you adapt in a different way. Everything depends on how you build your preparation for the main objective of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Spaniard was particularly impressed by Seixas\u2019s response to the crash that left him several minutes behind…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,93896,195864,176605,85,6494,349056],"class_list":["post-752736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-isaac-del-toro","tag-joxean-matxin","tag-paul-seixas","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-tour-auvergne-rhone-alpes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}